I’ve already posted a recipe for naturally colored yellow Easter eggs, dyed with turmeric, and now I have a recipe for beautiful natural purple eggs.
These are really the most beautiful naturally dyed Easter eggs, my mom has been making them for a few years now and I gladly adopt an idea. They are made with just one natural ingredient – wine. And the good thing is that you can make them with no effort and no mess. All you have to do is to cook the eggs in a strong red wine for about 7 minutes.
The eggs must be covered completely.
Then you leave them in wine for about 12 hours. I usually cook them in the evening and leave them overnight covered in wine. After 12 hours, take them out, transfer them to a clean plate and leave them to dry. It is important that you don’t wash them or coat them with oil. So don’t do anything with them but leave them to dry completely. As you take them out they will look like this:
You’ll see that that they are covered with a sand-like coating, and as they dry that sand will start to look like crystals.
Finished eggs will have a matte finish, but will be sprinkled with thousands of tiny crystals. They look like they are made by Swarovski. They shine stronger, of course, in harsh light.
Another important note here is that you don’t mix wine with water. If you do that, the results won’t be the same. I know it is kind of a waste to throw away wine, but you can use a cheap bottle. Mine are colored in a cheapest cabernet sauvignon that they sell.
And here are some more photos of the finished naturally colored purple Easter eggs with crystals :
- 10 eggs
- 4 cups (about 1 liter) of red wine
- Place eggs in a large saucepan. Cover them with wine. Bring wine and eggs to a boil and let simmer for about 7 minutes.
- Leave the eggs soaked in the wine for at about 12 hours or overnight.
- After 12 hour soaking, take the eggs out and transfer them to a plate and leave them to dry completely.
And some more awesome ideas for natural Easter eggs dyes.
This seems great, I’m doing it tonight, I just wonder do the eggs change their taste or not?
Hi Jelena. Actually they do but just a tiny little bit. if you have very good taste you may taste a hint of wine. I can’t spot the wine flavor, but my boyfriend does. But if the egg cracks while cooking it will have strong wine taste and will not be appetizing.
I just want to be clear, is this process also hard boiling the eggs? I mean are you starting with raw eggs or eggs you have already hard boiled?
Great idea. Thanks for sharing!
Hi Mary. Yes, cooking eggs in wine also boils them, so you start with raw eggs.