“Easter is the only time you can put all your eggs in one basket!”- Evan Essar
A long time ago I saw this Pin with cake inside an egg… and I was like “whaaaaat!” . How the hell do you put cake into an egg ! The explanation was shockingly simple and common sense really ! But as this Sunday approaches and I was channeling some Easter spirit , I thought of trying out this fun idea!
This is less of a recipe and more of a project (inspired by innumerous similar ones I found online) . Now , the story behind these eggs is that you make a small hole in an egg , empty and dry it out, paint it and dry it out again. Then you fill in any cupcake batter and bake it . When I saw how it was done.. I was like Duh ! Cant believe I didn’t think of that!
I used my favourite vanilla cupcake recipe for the cake , you can use any cupcake recipe of your choice. I just saved up the shells from my weekly baking ( after opening them carefully of course!) . I dip-dyed them using gel food colour but if you don’t want it coloured on the inside , you can just paint the eggs with food colour mixed with little vodka or lemon extract. I found that messy as I kept smudging the already painted areas and drying it was tricky too!
Now … while this was fun to make , and I got a few “how did u do that!”s from adults and ” I want one, i want one !”s from the kids I offered these too , I am unsure about the practicality of baking cakes in eggs ! Its much like peeling a hard boiled egg and eating , but I was a little paranoid about the little ones getting egg shell bits in their cake . They didn’t seem to mind though !
You’ ll need:
- egg shells
- any cupcake batter ( I used this yummy one!)
- food gel colours
- vinegar
- warm water
Lets get started :
Make a small opening in the narrower end of an egg . You can use a sharp knife or a pin . Increase it enough so that you can empty out the egg . This is the first one I made , so its larger but I did make smaller holes later . Wash out the shell well with water , you can also soak in water and vinegar to be extra careful. Dry out the shells.
To dip dye the eggs , fill about 3/4 cup warm water in glasses / containers . You’ ll need as many glasses as you are using colours. Add drops of food gel colouring into each glass , 4-5 for a dark colour and 8-10 for a lighter colour until you get the desired shade. Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to each glass and mix well.
Add one egg shell to each glass. It will float so use the spoon to keep it under. The egg shell will colour in 10-15 minutes. Keep longer for a darker colour.
Lift out the egg shell and dry . Its easy to do this in a plastic egg tray but even napkins/ tissue will do. They ll dry out in a couple of hours or you can keep them overnight. If you don’t want to dip dye it , just paint with gel colour (mixed with vodka) . I tried a speckled look on the green one! Much preferred the ease of the dip dying!
Preheat your oven to 180 c/ 350 F. Prepare your cupcake batter or use some left over. Fill in a piping bag or you could use a spoon. Fill the egg shells through the opening about a little more than half way. Its safer to fill slightly more than less ! Place each egg in a muffin tray cavity. Use foil or parchment to keep it upright.
Bake at 180 F / 350 F for 15-16 minutes . If there s excess batter that has overflowed , simply cut it off . Cool completely. While serving , you can either serve in egg trays with the open end up . Or you could hide the cake by displaying them wide (covered end) up. If you are worried about the cake touching the tray… line your tray or serving dish with candy wrappers /paper liners and place the eggs on them!
Also :
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- Store in an airtight container for 3 days in room temperature or 5 days in the refrigerator.
- Use good quality food colours for the best results.
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Granted that these egg cakes are more for the novelty factor than the actual “cake eating ” experience , but its a super great treat for Easter kids parties . You can actually get them to help make them , by painting and doodling on the shells ! You can even use this easy dip dying for boiled eggs . These eggs are definitely going to colour up your Easter !