Vibrant Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs
Denim-blue, burgundy, and yellow!
Hello, hello! This week is all about naturally dyed Easter eggs. When developing recipes for my new book, Cook Color (which comes out in a little over a month! Please pre-order here!), I learned the ways that vegetables, fruits, and spices can be used as natural dyes to produce gorgeously vibrant colors.
The processes aren’t always as straightforward as you might be imagining. Sometimes an ingredient that’s one color can imbue foods with an unexpectedly different color. For instance, red/purple cabbage makes a brilliant blue dye.
For Easter this year, I made three different color dyes: denim-blue, burgundy, and yellow. They look so cheerful together all mixed up in the carton. My hottest take on Easter eggs is that you really don’t need to hard-boil them before dying them. And you definitely don’t need to do that tedious method of using a sewing needle to poke a tiny hole in both sides of the eggshell and then carefully blowing out the contents to create an empty egg. That’s how I did it when I was a kid, and gosh I don’t miss it at all! Now I just dye regular, raw eggs. They can be stored in the refrigerator like normal and it’s such a delight to crack a denim-blue egg into a hot skillet for breakfast. It’s easier and honestly, who wants to eat a dozen hard-boiled eggs?
Here’s my recipe for naturally dyed Easter eggs:
Fill a stainless-steel saucepan with 4 cups of water. Add the colorful ingredient to the pan.
For denim-blue dye, use 4 cups chopped red/purple cabbage.
For burgundy dye, use 4 cups chopped beets.
For yellow dye, use 2 tablespoons ground turmeric.
Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat and cook for about 30 minutes, until the water is deeply saturated with color. Let cool completely, then strain the liquid into a container in which you will dye the eggs. I use a plastic takeout container that is deep enough to hold all the liquid plus at least 4 eggs. (Note that whichever container you use will likely also become dyed, so make sure it’s not a precious one.)
Use a spoon to gently lower 4 raw, white-shelled eggs into the dye. Stir in 2 tablespoons of white vinegar, which will help set the color. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours. The longer you dye the eggs, the deeper the color will be.
Remove the eggs from the dye, let them drip-dry on a paper towel, and store in the refrigerator.
I love the way that the blue-dyed eggs are the exact shade of broken-in denim jeans. Feel free to try experimenting with mixing dye colors or creating your own. I’d love to know which is your favorite.
Wishing you a restful Easter holiday or Passover to those who celebrate. I’ll be back next week with a little bit of very happy news!
xo,
Maria