Coloring Eggs

 

I wouldn't go hiding these around the house for your kids to find on Easter morning. 

They're probably better suited to just eating, or perhaps making a batch of really wild deviled eggs - something I'm thinking of doing with the next batch. 

I've been thinking about making these for a while.

I'd seen recipes in a couple of my Asian cookbooks for Chinese Tea Eggs, a typical street snack found in parts of China.  Basically what you do is hardboil your eggs normally, and then, when they've cooled enough to handle, roll the eggs around on a hard surface to crack them.  You don't want to crack them too hard - you still want the shell to stay on the egg.  But you want to develop a nice overall cracked look.

 

Then, for the tea eggs, you'd make a pot of good, strong, dark tea and either simmer (recipes vary) the eggs for a while in the tea or just plunge them into the hot tea and leave them there for several hours.

To make mine, I hardboiled them, cooled them a bit, and rolled them around on a paper towel to crack them.  Some came out better than others.

Then I brought some more water to a boil and salted it (to flavor the eggs a bit, just in case we eat them).  While the water was heating up I set out several bowls for the various colors.  I picked out seven colors (no particular reason for that number - I'll probably make more when it's closer to Easter) and parcelled out some gel food coloring into each bowl.

 

 

 

I used pink, yellow, copper, green, blue, teal, and purple. 

When the water reached a boil and I'd added in some salt, I ladled water into each bowl and stirred the food coloring to dissolve it.  Then I placed one or two cracked eggs in each bowl, making sure they were covered completely with the colored water.

** And here's where I give you a word or two of advice.  First of all, have a towel under your bowls - if the egg displaces too much water, you'll have a mess, and food coloring CAN STAIN.  Second, use bowls or other containers that are more vertical then horizontal in dimension.  Actually coffee mugs worked really well for me - I ended up pouring colored water from my bowls into mugs - oh, the colorful mess I had!  But the mugs worked great.  I made sure to pick dark mugs so that if there was any staining catastrophe, no one but me would know.

I didn't take pictures of the eggs in their color baths - most were too dark. 

I left them in there for...(had to do some thinking just then) about 7 hours.  Yes.  I typed it correctly and you read it correctly.  7 hours. 

* Update *  I was thinking that it wasn't a very food-safe thing to do - leaving the eggs out to soak in hot/warm water for 7 hours.  In fact, it's not safe at all - it's a perfect environment for all sorts of bad little bugs to grow and thrive and contaminate everything.  We didn't eat those left out eggs anyway - I just took pictures and eventually tossed them.  Wasteful, right?  So I made a batch and instead of soaking them in hot colored water, I used cold colored water and soaked the eggs in the fridge overnight.  I'm happy to say it worked just as well AND you can eat the eggs!

Now, I don't know if it was necessary to leave them that long, but that's just the way it worked out, what with shuttling kids around and bringing Julia to gymnastics and making dinner and everything, it was nearly 7 pm when I finally got a chance to unveil my masterpieces. 

I was kind of excited, to tell you the truth.  And I was so excited that I didn't think to take a picture of the eggs BEFORE I peeled them, but ah well, that's why I don't write for Bon Appetit.

Here, however, is a lovely photo of the peeled shells:

 

Pretty darn festive themselves, aren't they? 

And here are my eggy jewels:

 

Aren't they cool?????  Well, some of them didn't come out so good, but the ones that did - I'm pretty happy with them.

As you can tell, it's hard to really see the detail on the yellow one.  I might not do yellow again, although it's so bright and pretty that maybe I will.  You just never know what I might do!

Anyway, the interesting thing (to me) is that some of them don't look like the colors I'd expected.  The two green ones are fine.  And that single teal egg is fine.  The orangy one is copper, but oddly enough, when I look at it today, it's more pink.  Or peach.  And those two purple ones?  Those were in the pink food coloring.  They looked purple yesterday (in the above photo) and today they've calmed down a bit to a fuschia.  The blue ones...they're fine.  And that darker blue, right in front?  That was supposed to be purple.

So either you can do a lot of scientific experimentation with amounts of food coloring and length of time spent soaking...or you can just wing it and let the eggs be like little colorful gifts as you peel them.

Both of my kids are dying to color eggs, especially Julia.  She saw all the mugs and bowls of eggs in food coloring on the counter yesterday, and unfortunatly she was sent to bed early (long story) and didn't get to see the final products.  I didn't show her this morning.  I was a bit concerned that she'd cry or get upset about missing the fun of peeling.

So I think I will make more of these and let the kids pick the colors and roll the eggs around to crack them. 

Alex WILL NOT eat eggs, but even he was impressed last night with how they looked.

And then perhaps I will make deviled eggs...or a really colorful egg salad...with the finished products.

OH!  Almost forgot - yet another bit of advice - when you're cracking the shells, be gentle with them.  If you whack them too hard on the counter or on your sibling's head (just preparing for everything here), you could also cause the white to split all the way to the yolk.  Just like this blue one on the end here (left front):

 

It's not the most horrible thing in the world, but it does kind of ruin the aesthetic.  And we don't want that, do we?  At least not for the pictures.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to for fun.  Hope you've been entertained!

(Oh, and if you haven't had enough of these eggs, go here.)

 

Comments

[Nicole]

These are absolutely gorgeous! I love the colors. So beautiful.

[Veronica]

"Both of my kids are dying to color eggs..." Did you miss that pun?? Hahahahahahahaha!

[Rebecca]

Wow, I've never seen colored eggs like this. Thanks for sharing the process. Think I might have to tackle this one.

[Jane M]

That sure looks like FUN FUN FUN!

[Tracey]

What a fun post! The eggs look so cool!

[pinkstripes]

Those look so cool. What a great technique.

[Jayne]

hahahahahaha!

[sizzlinchef]

This is probably one of the coolest things I've seen in a very long time. I am going to make these for my nieces and nephews this easter. Thanks for the insperation.
seth

[Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah]

Those are so cool!

[Candied Fabrics]

OOh! So cool! No longer will I moan when some of my hard boiled eggs get cracked during cooking! WooHoo - just make pretty stained glass eggs instead! Thanks for the great idea!

[Kim]

What type of dye did you use? I would love to do these with my granddaughters this weekend!
Love your site btw. I visit it everyday!

[Jayne]

Hi Kim!  I just used Wilton gel food colorings mixed with hot, slightly salted water.  Make sure you all wear old clothes and cover the work surfaces - the gel will stain - especially any color with red in it.  The stains will eventually wash out of hands and countertops (at least they have for me) but I'm not sure how they'll affect different clothing fabrics.

Let me know how you make out if you end up making these!  I'd love to see other peoples' pictures!

[Nina]

I can't believe I have never seen these before, they are so cool!

[jomamma]

Beautiful! Much prettier that those ole Chinese eggs.

[Di]

Those look really cool! I particularly like the picture of the peeled shells all mixed together. =)

[Jessi]

We always love when some of the eggs get "accidentally" cracked like this during the coloring process for Easter. Then when we're opening them up to actually use after the hunt, we run across some fun surprises. :)

[soeurs du jour]

These are gorgeous. Wouldn't they be fun to make devilled eggs with for a summer party? I wonder how they'd look.

[mere]

Natalie says you're "magical"!

[Jayne]

That made my day!!  :)

[Lulu]

They are beautiful! Thanks, L

[katie]

How cool are those!! Thanks!

[Lydia]

Those leftover eggshells would be fabulous for a complementary Easter craft: eggshell mosaics!

[JoAnn]

Oh these look wonderful and what a tasty treat for the table!

[Rachel]

These are AWESOME! What a creative idea, I just love this! I'll be linking to this if you don't mind.

[Allison]

They are awesome! Beautiful. But I do have a question (I live with a bit of a germ-a-fobe)....
are the eggs safe to eat after they've been sitting out all day? could you put them in the fridge while they are bathing in the coloring? Thanks....

[Jayne]

Link away!  I don't mind at all!

[criss]

i am a Chinese, when i see this, firstly i think it is colorful but for the old people in China i guess they won't accept this as a tea egg~

for children i think they will like it! absolutely!

u did a nice job! i like it!

[Jayne]

Funny you should ask that, Allison!  No - the way I did them initially they would probably not be safe to eat.  We didn't eat any of these.  I just took pictures.  And more pictures.  BUT.  Last night I made just a few of them and instead of letting them sit out in hot water for hours, I cooled the cooked eggs, cracked the shells, and then put them in mugs of cold colored water to soak, and put everything in the fridge overnight.  They were never just sitting around - they were either boiling away or they had been quickly cooled and then stored in the fridge.  I made a little batch of deviled eggs with them this morning and when I peeled them they were just as wonderfully colored as when I made them the other times.  So I'd recommend you let them soak in the fridge, and you and your germ-a-fobe should be perfectly safe and happy! 

 

[Jayne]

criss, thank you!  I know it's definitely NOT a tea egg, but the tea eggs were the inspiration behind these eggs, so I had to give credit where it was due.

So glad you like them! 

[Marw]

- find leaves about 2/3 the size of the egg
- fix then on the egg using pieces of nylon stockings (tight!)
- boil/ stew in coloured water as before
see any greek site for details :)

[Jayne]

Marw,  I've seen photos of the resulting eggs you describe - didn't know the method.  Thanks for sharing!!!  I'll try it out this week! 

[Erin S.]

These are beautiful! Can't wait to try them. I think they would be great for Halloween parties, too-
use red dye, make deviled eggs with a black olive circle on top--Bloodshot Deviled Eyes!!

[Hannah]

Awesome idea, thanks so much!!

[Samara]

Lindo. Parabens pelo Post. Ficou lindo mesmo

[ben smithson]

Freakin' brilliant. Love this!

[MikeR]

Many many years ago, we coloured eggs by wrapping them in daffodil petals tied with string and hard boiling them. They came out a beautiful yellow colour. Dunno about the long-term effects on your health though - I turned out alright ;-)

[Dawn]

I'll be the only descenting voice, but I think they look creepy LOL

[Katie]

I just found you through lifehacker. Thanks! I was just assigned to bring deviled eggs for Easter, so I can't wait to try it.

[Bev]

these are so fantastic!!! love this!!!

[mickeyfan]

They could also look cool if they were sliced to top a salad. Or make a very colorful egg salad. I think kids would go nuts for these!
And from an egg producer, thanks so much for spreading the word on another use for the incredible, edible egg!

[Ricardo Moraes]

Hello, I am Ricardo, the author of the weblog Cafe Preto - made in Brazil.
The intent and purpose of my weblog, my readers is to provide a different reading of the other circulating the web ... That is why I found your page very interesting and convenient to place it in the Cafe Preto, because here we are in the Easter season (Sunday, 12-04-2009); why I used your picture in the logo / Cafe Preto banner.
It is worth mentioning that the logo / banner of the Cafe Preto is renewed periodically, with a maximum for a period of 15 days.
I apologize for using your picture without first asking his permission, but as I said, we are in the Easter period, and his picture was very beautiful in the right / Cafe Preto banner. I would like to allow me to use his image for that short period in my logo / banner.

[Jayne]

Hi Ricardo,

In that case, you are certainly welcome to keep the banner up.  Thank you again for linking to me!  And Happy Easter to you!

[Christa]

Those are VERY pretty... :D

[Louellen Coker]

Excellent Idea! My potato salad and deviled eggs are going to look so colorful this year!

[Louellen Coker]

What a great idea. Is there a place to find instructions? Any special glue or medium you should affix the shells to?

[Strider]

Great Pix!

[Ashley]

GORGEOUS! What a fun idea :)

[Amanda]

I started doing these today and then realized I really didn't have the room in my fridge to keep these in the colors. So here's what I did: I followed your process, but instead of leaving them in for hours, they were only in a few minutes. I left the cracked shells on the eggs (since I already knew that it wouldn't work for such a short period of time) and I put them in the fridge with the other eggs. About 20 minutes later I went into the fridge to get a drink and was amazed at what the shells looked like. The shells, where the cracks were, were a lighter shade of color than the rest of the egg. They are really cool! I will post them on my blog later tonight :) Thanks for the fun idea, yours came out so pretty. What a psychodelic egg salad those would have made LOL

[Tara @ Feels like home]

I have never seen anything like these eggs before. I wish I'd seen your post before we colored our eggshells today. Oh, well. I'll do this someday soon, maybe just for fun.

[Rebecca C]

Stumbleduponm this page as well, again these are awesome, and you do seem obsessed! It could be worse though. I really want to try this!