Crafts for Show-offs: Easter

For the feared admiration of your “friends” you will need:

1 box cake mix*

vegetable oil

3 tablespoons applecider vinegar

30 large white eggs (3 of the yolks will be used in the recipe, you can just hang out with the other 27, the shells are the valuable part)

muffin pan

aluminum foil

wine corkscrew

quart or galloon Ziplock bags

100% silk ties for dyeing **

scissors

string, twist ties, etc.

a good baking playlist

*Any flavor will do, but because egg cakes have no icing I choose one of the sweeter options.

**One tie can cover 2-4 eggs.

To Prep the little darlings:

• The recipe can fill 30 eggs, naturally you should make as many as you want and use the rest of the batter for normal cupcakes. Begin collecting the shells early for less pile-up. Just start draining the eggs you use for cooking instead of cracking them. And then you can say this project took you days; I’m certainly going to.
• To drain the eggs a wine corkscrew works best, even though I just pulled it out of the drawer as a reflex.
• Gently poke the tip of the corkscrew into the bottom of a large egg. Once the tip is inside, twist the corkscrew down, like you would into a cork. Get two rotations in then slowly pull the corkscrew straight back out. This will leave a pencil-sized hole.
• You can easily peel away additional shell. A nickel sized whole is ideal. The corkscrew can also be used to burst the yolk, which will help it slip out. Once drained, submerge the shells in saltwater for at least 30 minutes.

*If you do not want to dye your eggs skip ahead to “Cake, Cake, Cake, Cake” but that’s something someone who didn’t consider art school would do.

Making them to dye for:

 Adjustments for hollow eggs: These are extremely easy to break with your big strong hands, be careful. You will not be able to wrap the silk as tight. Additionally, hollow eggs float so you will have to fill them with water then do the wrapping in the pot, while they are submerged. If they aren’t filled with water the eggs will  float to the top and the designs wont be as bold. If they were still floating I turned the culprits periodically and left them in for longer to think about what they had done.

• Snag your ties from a thrift store. They won’t be more than $2 each. If the label doesn’t say 100% silk, the images will not transfer. Look for deep colors and darker patterns. This country has a booming ugly tie industry and the uglier the tie, the bolder the design will be.
• Cut the seams and flatten the ties. Then cut the cloth into square and wrap the eggs as tightly as possible, placing the vibrant side against the eggshell. Wet silk will wrap tighter. The lining from the ties can be cut into strips to secure your bundles, but twisty ties work best. Anywhere the silk does not directly touch the shell will leave a whitespace.
• Place the eggs in a saucepan and cover with at least an inch of water, add vinegar.

• Bring the eggs to a rolling boil. Then turn off the heat and let sit, covered, for at least 25 minutes.
• Be careful getting the eggs out and unwrapping them as they are filled with (previously) boiling water.
• For a little extra shine, rub the cooled shells with a touch of vegetable oil.

You can see the differences here, the ones on the left were not submerged.

Cake, Cake, Cake, Cake

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Mix cake batter as directed. To create a marble or tye dye effect inside the eggs, separate your batter and dye different colors.
• Place an aluminum foil square (mine were roughly 3×3) in each spot on the muffin pan. This will keep our eggs upright during filling and baking.
• Add a drop of vegetable oil to the inside of each shell before filling. Roll the oil around inside the empty egg to ensure the cake won’t stick. A spritz of cooking spray also works.
• Leaving a few inches, turn a Ziplock inside out. This will become your piping bag for egg filling. Spoon ¼ of your batter into the bag. With scissors cut the very corner of the zip lock off and begin pushing your batter to the opening. Cut small at first – you can always make it bigger.

• Insert the tip into each egg and fill 5/8 of the egg. While baking, the cake will expand out the top of the egg. You don’t want overflow. For tye dyeing, alternate the colors of batter in each egg.
• Bake your new egg offspring for 18 minutes. Check with a toothpick to ensure the cake’s center is firm and allow eggs to cool.

• You will likely have some overflow. Peel and eat most of the excess. The rest can be scraped off with a butter knife or damp cloth, but you will be removing the dye as well. Sux.

NO LOOK AT THESE so young and filled with hope! (cake) Like a little egg pride parade.

The egg carton works best for transport, but I’m sure you can think of something overly elaborate to display them in. Happy Easter!

Special thanks to Brooke of Simple Pleasure for a little photo snag.