Naturally dyed Easter Eggs
I love hand dyeing Easter eggs, it takes me back to my childhood. In Switzerland, where I grew up, it’s a tradition to place fresh leaves and petals from the garden onto raw eggs, wrap them up in sheer pantyhose and then boiling them in dye baths of onion skin, walnut shell, and/or logwood. The moment when the ‘plant’ print is revealed is as exciting to me as unwrapping a gift on Christmas Day. Each one of them a small exquisite masterpiece of randomness! More often than not, the ones that don’t turn out as planned, are the most beautiful, with their unique marks of imperfection that nobody could have planned for.
I’m not sure whether this technique is very well known outside of Northern Europe, so here’s a simple tutorial for those who’d like to give it a go. I tend to get so wrapped up in my makings (not much planning involved) that my timing is all over the place (it’s already the Easter weekend…) So unless you are willing to slave through the night in order to have the eggs ready for the breakfast table tomorrow morning, this post might be more suitable for another time. I will make sure to re-post it next year well in advance :-)
This year I have used a selection of handmade natural dyes. Yellow onion skins, walnut shells, ground turmeric, logwood, red cabbage and blueberries. There are many other natural ingredients you could use, such as coffee, beets and spinach.
Materials for the ‘leaf-technique’:
Sheer panty hose
String or kitchen twine
Bowl of cold water
Hard boiled white eggs
Containers such as mason jars, tall drinking glasses, or plastic bottles with the neck cut off
Small leaves and petals such as dandelion, clover, cilantro, fern… whatever you can find in your garden or on your doorstep
Materials for the dye baths:
White vinegar
Blueberries (frozen)
Beets (fresh, grated)
Red Cabbage (fresh, grated)
Yellow onion skins (from 6-7 onions)
Turmeric (powder)
Walnut shell (small pieces)
Coffee (freshly ground)
Logwood (shavings)
DIRECTIONS FOR DYE PREPARATION:
Depending on how many eggs you’d like to dye at a time. I’d prepare between 2-4 cups of dye liquid (will dye 2-4 eggs)
YELLOW (Turmeric):
2 Tbsp of Ground Turmeric per cup of water
(boil for 5min)
SKY BLUE (Red Cabbage)
¼ Red Cabbage shredded per cup of water
(boil for 30-45min)
PINK (Beets)
1 cup of shredded Beets per cup of water
(boil for 30-45min)
BROWN (Coffee)
Brew a pot of strong fresh coffee (do not use instant powder)
BROWN (Walnut Shells)
½ cup of smashed walnut shells per 2 cups of water
(boil for 10min)
RUST/ORANGE (Yellow Onion Skins)
Skins of 2-3 onions per cup of water
(boil for 30-45min)
GREY/BLUE (Blueberries)
1 cup of blueberries per cup of water
(boil for 30-45min)
PURPLE (Logwood shavings)
1Tbsp per cup of water
(Boil for 5-10min)
A note about Logwood (Haematoxylum Campechianum): Logwood is a popular natural dye, which has been used for centuries. N.B. ‘natural’ doesn’t equal ‘safe’. Logwood is toxic if ingested or inhaled. I recommend you buy shavings instead of the powder to avoid inhalation. That being said, it is a fantastic dye and it creates the deepest, most beautiful purple almost instantly. It has been sold and used in Switzerland for Easter egg dyeing for as long as I can remember. Since Switzerland has a highly stringent health & safety regulatory body, I personally wouldn’t worry about it, but of course it’s up to you to decide.
After boiling the dyes, strain the liquids and let cool down.
Add 1 tsp of (white) vinegar per cup of liquid to the vegetable dyes
N.B. Do NOT add vinegar to onion skins, logwood (unless you’d like brown instead of purple) and walnut shells
Pour dyes into containers (such as mason jars, ideally with a lid)
‘Stick’ a combination of moist leaves onto your egg and wrap it tightly in panty hose.
Tighten the panty hose around the egg. I prefer to use a piece of string to tighten everything in place, but you can also make a simple knot.
Make sure that your knot is not placed near or over your ‘design’ since it will also leave a mark on the egg.
Drop your egg into the dye bath
Wait… :-)
For a lighter shade leave your eggs in the dye for about 3h, for a darker shade, pack everything in the fridge and leave overnight.
I like my eggs looking naturally matt, but my grandma used to rub the eggs with a piece of bacon fat (you can also use vegetable oil) to shine them up nicely!
Last but not least: The egg battle! Each person around the Easter Sunday brunch table chooses one egg. Battle your neighbor by knocking your egg (pointy side ahead) onto theirs. See who wins. The winner goes on to battle other winners around the table. It’s good fun and a nice tradition. You could even come up with a price for the winner. Our winner used to be ‘king’ for the day and could have the last say in things :-)) Happy Easter everyone! It will be a strange one this year. Let’s find the positives in the uniqueness of the current situation. We might have to zoom in and look very closely, but you’ll find the silver lining.
We will hold a virtual Dinner/Breakfast-Party (depending on where our family members are located in the world). Despite living far away from family in Europe and being used to regular Skype conversations, we’ve never done anything communal on that scale. It’s a first and I’m excited that we’ve found yet another way to connect!
