Naturally painted Easter eggs

Four years ago, my husband suggested we should stop using store bought paint to dye the Easter eggs. He just hated that all that artificial paint was always rubbing off and would leave our fingers red or green and that we then had to eat the dye that inevitably got through the egg shell and color the actual egg white. It's true, that can't be healthy.

So that year we decided I was going to paint the eggs red, using onion peals. So for about a month and a half, I started collecting every onion peel I could find. Therefore, on the actual Easter weekend, I already had a medium size bag filled with onion peals. It was crazy! But it worked and they turned out great.

I basically boiled the onion peals for about 25 minutes then I added the eggs and I believe I also boiled them for around 25 minutes. The thing I should have done, to get a more even color, is I should have strained the peals out of the then formed dye, before I added the eggs. What I did, is, I dropped the eggs in between the onion peals and the came out unevenly red. But they still looked pretty good and the color was really intense.

This year I decided to use a different approach. I also started collecting onion peals early on, but I didn't manage to gather that many. So I made the dye by boiling the onion peals for exactly 30 minutes. I then strained the peals and was left with only the dye. I boiled the eggs for 16 minutes and then left them to cool in the colored onion peel water and kept them in there for about 10 hours. The color turned out pretty nice and intense this time around as well.

I also decided I was going to try to pain the eggs this year a new color: blue, using red cabbage. It turned out amazing!

Let's have a close look at the actual recipe and method:

Ingredients:

- 10 free range eggs

For the blue color dye:

- 3/4 of roughly chopped red cabbage (the cabbage I bought weight 1,78 kg, and I used approx. 1,33 kg)

- 2,250 ml of water

- 2 tbsp. of vinegar

For the red color dye:

- 10 gr. of yellow onion peals

- 2,000 ml of water

- 2 tbsp. of vinegar

I buy the eggs I use in my cooking and baking from the supermarket, but I try to make sure they come from a sustainable source, so I encourage you to do the same. It's healthier for us and it's better for the environment.

Also to make sure that your pots will not get stained in the process, it's best if you can use a black pot or a stainless steel one.

Method:

Now let's turn our attention to the actual method. I used eggs with a brown shell, as I believe this shell is thicker. Therefore this reduces the possibility of it from cracking during the boiling process and handling.

To start off, wash the eggs with a sponge using some dishwashing soap. Be very gentle when you clean the shell, so that you don't crack the egg. I wouldn't use any vinegar in this cleaning process, because I noticed it causes the egg shell to discolor unevenly and then when we'll dye it, it will come out stained.

Once all the eggs are clean, dry them out with a paper towel and let them sit at room temperature for at least an hour and a half. This should help us prevent the eggs from cracking when adding them in boiling water.

In the mean time, if you want the eggs to have a distinctive design, you can use any type of leave you have in your house hold. In the picture below, you can see a selection of leaves I've used to embellish my Easter eggs: from mint leaves, to rocket, thyme, parsley, dill, and even tomato storks. You can use some water on the leaves to help them stick on to the egg. Then you can place the eggs in a nylon stocking or some gauze (although, I tried both methods and the nylon stockings turned out to be the best option) an tie everything very close to the egg with a piece of thread. I also wrapped an egg in some onion peals and placed in into a nylon stocking and tied it with a thread. This give it a marble color effect; very pretty.

1. Now let's prepare the blue dye. Rinse the cabbage and roughly chop it. The cababage I used weight 1,78 kg, and for the actual dye I use 3/4 of it. I placed it in a dark pot and covered it with 2,250 ml of water. I brought the composition to a boil and from the moment it started boiling, I left it on a low heat for 30 minutes.

Now the water has turned a nice dark purple color. Let it cool completely. If we were to add the eggs at this point, the shell could still crack. Once it has completely cooled, remove the cabbage from the water by straining it. You'll notice that the water quantity has actually dropped in the process. Don't feel tempted to add fresh water to the dye as this will do nothing but dilute it. Instead, move the dye to a smaller pot in such way that when you place the eggs in the pot, they will be completely covered by the red cabbage dye and they do not rise to the surface. If the eggs are not completely covered with this liquid dye, then they will not get an even color in the process.

Once the eggs are placed in the pot with the dye, add 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Make sure to use a table spoon to lower the eggs in the pot, don't drop them in, as they might crack. Boil the eggs in the red cabbage dye for 16 minutes and then turn the heat off, remove the pot from the stove and let the eggs cool in the it. Once the dye is completely cooled, don't remove the eggs yet, but keep the eggs in the dye and transfer everything in the fridge. Keep them in colored water for 12 hours. This will give you a dark blue color. You could remove them sooner if you are looking to get a lighter color. Make sure the eggs are completely sunk under the dye, so that they get a nice and even color.

When removing the eggs from the dye, be careful. don't rub them with a towel, as this might remove the dye at this point. Instead, very gently dry them with a paper towel, and let them sit on the paper towel or a clean surface until the color is set. If the eggs were placed in a nylon stocking, remove it with care, gently discard the leaf and let them dry out on a paper towel or a clean surface.

Once the eggs are dry, you could brush them with some olive oil to give them a shiny effect.

2. Same process will apply to the red dye. This year I used peals from yellow onions. First I rinsed the onion peals in some warm water to make sure they are nice and clean. Then I placed them into a pot with 2,000 ml of water. I brought everything to a boil, and simmered the composition on a low heat from that point for 30 minutes. I let everything cool, and then strained the peals, discarded them, and I placed the newly formed dye into a smaller pot. Now the paint is a nice brown-reddish color. I dropped the eggs into it with the help of a tablespoon, I added 2 tablespoons of vinegar and boiled them for 16 minutes. Once again, I left the eggs to cool into the onion peel dye, and then I kept them in the dye and transferred them in the fridge where I let them sit for 10 hours. Make sure the eggs are completely sunk under the dye.

After the 10 hour have passed, I gently removed the eggs, and very lightly dried them out with a paper towel and left them to sit on a clean paper towel or onto a clean surface until the color was set.

The same in this case, if the eggs were placed in a nylon stocking, remove it with care, gently discard the leaf and let them dry out on a paper towel. These can also be brushed with some olive oil for a simmering effect.

Keep the dyed eggs into the fridge at all times.

Happy Easter!

Naturally dyed Easter eggs

Raspberry mousse

Kiflice sa kokosom