As far as my venturing in the natural dyeing of the Easter eggs goes, it has been a trial, but mostly an error. Last year, I got slightly darker than natural egg colour and the year before, some sort of blue-ish streaks on the surface of the eggs. This year, I set out to do it again, this time with beetroot, purple cabbage and turmeric. And out of all of these, I must say I was most confident about the turmeric. I once dyed a pair of grey pants with turmeric and they turned out a bright and uniform yellow.

But let’s get back to the eggs. To be truthful, I don’t really care about how intense or accurate the colours were going to turn out. I just wanted to have some fun with my daughter and hopefully achieve eggs a couple of hues above their natural colour. And so I researched extensively and decided to use the following methods: 4 cups of shredded vegetable for 1 litre/4 cups of water, plus 4 Tbsp white vinegar and 1 litre/4 cups of dye of  for every 10 eggs; for the turmeric dye you will need to use 10 Tbsp turmeric for 1 litre/4 cups of water and 4 Tbsp white vinegar. Okay, so here it goes.

First, boil the eggs according to your preference. We like them a little bit soft, so I brought a pot of salted water to a boil, added the eggs and boiled them for 6 minutes. It’s very important that you bring the eggs to room temperature before you immerse them in the hot water. After boiling them, leave to cool completely, preferably overnight. After you’ve made the different dyes, submerge the eggs in the dye, in a dish that can hold them in one layer, while they are completely covered. Refrigerate the eggs in the dye for as long as you like, until the eggs reach a colour you are satisfied with. I kept them for about 4 hours. The beetroot dye didn’t work great, the eggs just became a bit darker than their usual hue. However, the yellow and the blue turned out really nice. Secretly, I kind of like that my beetroot dyed eggs look earthy-toned, but I’m aware that most people can’t do without red eggs for Easter. For those of you I have yet to try a new egg dye recipe. Until next year, crack some eggs this Easter, bright coloured or not so much!

Below are the recipes for the dyes:

Beetrot Dye/Earthy tone

For 10 eggs

4 cups shredded beetroot for pink

OR

4 cups shredded purple cabbage for blue

OR

10 Tbsp turmeric for yellow

1 litre/4 cups water

4 Tbsp white vinegar

10 boiled eggs, at room temperature

Bring the water and the beetroot/cabbage/turmeric to a boil. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow to cool to room temperature, strain through a mesh sieve and stir in the vinegar. Place eggs in the dish you will be using, in a single layer. Carefully pour the dye liquid over the eggs, put in the fridge and leave until they reach the colour you desire. Remove from the dye, dry with a towel and massage with a little oil for shine.