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This is my all-time favourite Easter activity that I won’t ever skip. I’ve decorated eggs like this ever since I was a little child with my Mum in Switzerland, and I love the deep red tones of these eggs so much more than any more brightly coloured ones. And no matter how careful you are when “wrapping” them up, the result is ALWAYS a surprise. Kids love doing this.

Once you’re done, you won’t only have pretty eggs, they are also perfectly edible, ideal for an Easter brunch.

WHAT YOU NEED:

• ca. 6 raw eggs (ideally white ones (for contrast), but any eggs will do. Today, I used brown ones, because this is what I get here in the UK.
• The skins of about 10 onions (to roughly fill half a cooking pot). The more you put in, the stronger the contrast.) Today, because I was a bit low on onions, I also added a black teabag to the mix.
• old stockings or tights (clean, ideally…)
• rubber bands (optional)
• lots of leaves and bits of grass. I like clover, and any leaf that is young and thin and will stick well to the egg

METHOD

1. prepare your “broth”: fill roughly half a pan full of water (to sufficiently cover the eggs when boiling), and fill in the onion skins and teabag if using. Bring to boil and simmer for a few minutes (the longer you simmer, the stronger the colour).

2. Take your egg, and gently cover it in any pattern of leaves as you please. You can use a little water to really stick the leaves to the shell. If “broth” gets underneath the leaf, the leaf pattern will come out “diluted”. You can use rubber bands to fix the leaves (they also create fun patterns). Then, put a bit of stocking over the egg, and tie tightly around it.

When you’re done, it should look something like this:

3. Stick your egg into the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes, or however long you like to boil your hard-boiled eggs for.

Then remove from the pan, and let cool. You can also stick them under cold water for easier peeling later, if you like. It won’t affect the colour.

4. When you’re ready, cut open your “stocking”, peel off rubber bands and leaves, and see what wonderful patterns nature has created for you :-). For extra shine and strength of colour, rub in a little oil. The egg is ready for you to eat whenever you’re ready (and no, it won’t taste of onions :-)).

HAPPY EASTER!