Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

Craft projects are not the usual subject matter of this blog, but I think we can all agree that these naturally dyed easter eggs are too beautiful to not share. There are a ton of in-depth tutorials for naturally dyed eggs online and I pulled information from many them, but this tutorial from The Kitchn is a good place to start if you are new to natural dyes. Better Homes and Gardens also has a great list of foods you can use as dyes.

For the eggs in this post, I used three dyes: one made from shredded red beets (pink and maroon tones), one made from shredded purple cabbage (blue and green tones), and a mix of the two dyes (mauve and gray tones). I used both white and brown eggs which provided really beautiful, subtle color variations that I love. I also dyed some eggs yellow with turmeric, but the results were a bit pale so I didn't include them in these photos. You can also over-dye naturally green and blue eggs laid by Aracuna hens, which I have done in the past. The results are just stunning, but the eggs can be a bit pricey so I skipped it this year. 

A quick announcement! This here blog was nominated for a Saveur Blog Award in the Best Baking & Desserts Category, and I am thrilled! Thank you to whoever nominated me! If you feel compelled, visit Saveur to vote for your favorites in all 13 categories. So many wonderful blogs (and people!) are up for awards, and I am honored to be among them. 

General Method for Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

You'll need about 1 cup of dye matter (shredded beets, shredded cabbage or check this post for more color options ) per 1 cup of water, and about 4 cups of dye per dozen eggs. Scale up or down depending on how many eggs you'd like to dye. Hot tip: Shred your beets in the sink to avoid spattering red all over your kitchen.

To prepare the dyes, combine the dye matter with the appropriate amount water in a saucepan, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-30 minutes. Check the dye occasionally for color, you want the liquid to be a couple of shades darker than your desired finished egg color. Strain the dye into a clean container and let it cool to room temperature. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar per 1 cup of dye. 

Meanwhile, hard boil your eggs and let them cool.

Arrange the cooked eggs in a container or containers (ideally in a single layer) and pour the dye over the top to submerge the eggs completely. Transfer the containers to the refrigerator, and let the eggs sit in the dye baths until they reach your desired color. I let my eggs sit for almost 24 hours. Remember that when the eggs dry they will be slightly lighter in color than when they are wet, like a stone picked up at the beach.

Carefully remove the eggs from the dye baths, give them a quick rinse, pat dry, and you're done! You can rub the eggs with a bit of vegetable oil to give them a sheen and enhance the color a bit if you like.

Now, who has a great recipe for deviled eggs?

Ricotta Gelato

This is the kind of recipe I knew I would love before I even made it. It is one of the simplest recipes in Brooks Headley's, Piglet winning, Fancy Desserts, and it is ridiculously easy. All you have to do is take some good ricotta (sheep's milk if you can swing it), add some honey, simple syrup, and a pinch of salt, then chill and churn it. Done and done. I liked this gelato best as soft serve, straight from the machine, but you could transfer it to a freezer safe container and chill it for a couple of hours to make scoops like the ones shown here. 

For as much as I love richly-hued food and food photography sometimes a blank canvas, white on white, is just the thing, but I wanted to top my gelato with some crunchy bits for texture so I chopped up some salty fried Marcona almonds and white chocolate to sprinkle on top. It made for a nice sweet -salty-creamy combo. This gelato would also be delicious with berries or roasted fruit or maybe some cacao nibs or anything that tastes good with ricotta sprinkled over top really. Maybe tomato jam and a little olive oil? Too weird? Go crazy with the free styling people. I hear Brooks' team made this into a canoli inspired treat for his Superiority Burger Pop-up burger joint, which also sounds great. 

Brook's Headley's Ricotta Gelato

The original recipe in Fancy Desserts makes about 2 quarts of gelato which I knew was a bit more than my home machine could handle, so I cut the recipe in half. To make simple syrup: combine equal parts granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, cook over medium-high heat until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar is completely dissolved. Chill thoroughly before adding the simple syrup to the other ingredients in this recipe. Oh, and I probably don't need to tell you all this, but use good quality ricotta here, the sheep's milk kind if you can find it. 

3 cups full fat ricotta (750g)

1 1/2 cups simple syrup (500g)

1/4 cup honey (85g)

pinch salt

Add the ricotta, simple syrup, honey, and salt together to a medium, deep-sided bowl. Blend with an immersion blender for one minute, until super smooth. Set the bowl over an ice bath and chill, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for three hours, or overnight if you have the time. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately or transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze until firm.