They have been called the Incredible Edible Eggs. There are so many different and varied ways to serve eggs, but none more humble than the simple, traditional hard-boiled method. Hard-boiled eggs only come in one boring color. Except for ‘Easter Eggs’ of course, but that is the shell. The edible part is still plain ol’ white. That is, until now. You can dress-up your hard-boiled eggs with style and impress your guests.

I heard about something called “Tea Eggs” a long time ago. Regular hard-boiled chicken eggs that when the shell is removed, reveal a colorful artsy crackled effect to them, like marbled stone. Served without the shell to show their painted colors, I guess they are called “tea eggs” because this is done using a strong tea solution. Or that they can be eaten as a light snack at teatime. Either way, let’s give it a try.

Start With Hard Boiled Eggs

I begin by hard-boiling several eggs. Do this slowly over medium heat to avoid the egg cracking prematurely. You would want the eggs not be cracked during boiling even though we will crackle the shell later. A tablespoon of white vinegar added to the water before boiling helps the eggshell to not only peel easier, it is supposed to help it to not crack while boiling. I might agree with the former, but one of my eggs cracked in the boiling water anyway. I will still use this damaged egg, -the effect might still be interesting.

You’ve Got To Break Some Eggs

Next, on a towel, gently tap the eggshell with a spoon to crack it lightly in one spot. Using the palm of your hand, roll the cracked egg around, spreading the cracks thoroughly. You want the entire shell to be rather broken up. Not too much, not too little. Large ‘iceberg floe’ cracks are excellent. The cracks should extend all the way around the egg uniformly. You will have to experiment to learn the right amount of ‘destructive crackling’ is adequate. These cracks are where the colorant will seep in and dye the cooked egg white.

The Colorful Palette. Time To Paint

Here I am going to use four colors. Brown (coffee/tea), green, red and blue. To each glass of boiling hot water, add one teaspoon of salt. I don’t know why, -I guess salt and eggs taste really good together and these will be edible when we’re done. Or, maybe the salt helps the colors to set in the egg whites. I really don’t know if this even matters at all.

Our first color, a dark brownish, is made with a rounded teaspoon of instant coffee and one teabag. The second, third and fourth colors are 10-12 drops each of ordinary food-coloring dye per color used.

Gently place one hard-boiled and crackled egg into each glass. Allow to stay submerged for an hour or so, gently rolling the egg with a spoon occasionally to help the color get into the egg at the crack sites. The longer the egg is submerged in the colorant, the darker and more stunning the final effect will be!

When the colored water bath has cooled, the eggs are removed and are ready to have the shells carefully peeled off.

They Look Like Fossilized Dinosaur Eggs

The end result can be quite stunning, and no two eggs are ever the same pattern. They taste just like ordinary hard boiled eggs although the coffee-colored egg did have a slight nutty taste like tea or weak coffee. I liked the taste of coffee-tea and hard-boiled egg.

Remove the shells carefully, you don’t want to damage the smooth surface of the egg with tears or rips. The eggs are now ready for presentation and consumption. As you can see, the brown egg which in my attempt had cracked in the boiling pot but I used it anyway, did something strange. The effect is still interesting. It looks like hot fudge poured over vanilla ice cream, yes? If only it tasted like that, eh?

The blue egg turned out the best I think. The red egg looks a little like, well, -the planet Mars! The green egg… have you ever seen the “ALIEN” movies? Yikes!

These taste like regular hard-boiled eggs, although the brown coffee-colored tea egg did have a mild and pleasing coffee flavor to it. Maybe these should be called “coffee eggs” instead? This could be explored, not only color, but flavor could be added. To the coffee/tea solution, one might add Worcester Sauce or Soy Sauce for a different and tangy flavor, and the color in this case would be complimentary to that of the coffee/tea. Experiment! This is just a fun and colorful way to present the good old-fashioned hard-boiled egg at your next teatime. Have fun!

(All images by me, -thestickman. -And I put my wife’s kitchen back in order just in time, she didn’t see the mess that I had made in the sink)