When I was little, Easter was always one of my favorite holidays. All the honey baked ham you could ever want, and a weekend full of family. Not to mention, hunting high and low for the eggs hidden in every nook and cranny of Nanny and Gaga’s backyard.
It’s the stuff truly happy childhoods are made of.
I also remember dying the eggs, using a kit Nan would invariably pick up from the Fort Sam Houston commissary on her weekly grocery run. Standing on that metal folding stool that was at least as old as my mom, slowly lifting the eggs, one spoon at a time, from the brightly colored liquid.
I hadn’t dyed eggs since my foray into making my own Cascarones a few years ago, but I remember ending up with pink and blue fingers from the artificial dyes.
I’m really excited to share with you today’s post: Homemade, completely natural Easter Egg dyes from Le Creuset, made especially to match some of their most spring-like colors – Cassis, Caribbean, and their brand new Soleil!
I dyed these eggs in an evening, and I couldn’t be happier with the colors. They’re steadfast, and I love that my fingers stayed completely dye free. Le Creuset has also inspired me to play with other foodstuffs to see what other colors I can come up with!
To celebrate Easter, and the launch of Soleil, Le Creuset has a special photo contest just for you.
Between now and March 31st, use the Le Creuset recipes below to dye your own Easter Eggs.
Take a photo and post it to Instagram or Twitter, with the hashtags #LeCreusetEasterEggs and #BluebonnetBaker.
On April 1st, THREE winners will be randomly selected through the hashtag search. Each will win a 5 1/2 Qt Le Creuset French Oven in their choice of Cassis, Caribbean, or Soleil!
Make sure you visit My Baking Addiction and Food Fanatic for additional chances to win!
Homemade Easter Egg Dyes
from Le Creuset
Cassis Eggs
Yield: 1 dozen | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes + refrigerate in dye overnight
Ingredients
12 eggs
8 cups water
1 teaspoon vinegar
2 cups grape juice
Directions
Place eggs in a single layer in the pot. Add grape juice, vinegar and water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove eggs from pot and place in large bowl. Strain liquid through a coffee strainer and pour strained liquid into bowl with eggs. Cover and refrigerate overnight for deeper color. Remove from liquid and keep refrigerated.
Soleil Eggs
Yield: A dozen | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes
Ingredients
12 eggs
8 cups water
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 teaspoon vinegar
Directions
Place eggs in a single layer in the bottom of the pot. Add tumeric, vinegar and water, whisking to combine and dissolve the tumeric. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove eggs from pot and place in large bowl to cool. Keep refrigerated.
Caribbean Eggs
Yield: A dozen | Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes + refrigerate in dye overnight
Ingredients
12 eggs
8 cups water
1/4 red cabbage
1 teaspoon vinegar
Directions
Place eggs in a single layer in the bottom of the pot. Add water, vinegar and cabbage.
Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove eggs from pot and place in large bowl. Strain liquid through a coffee strainer and pour strained liquid into bowl with eggs. Cover and refrigerate overnight for deeper color. Remove from liquid and keep refrigerated.
Terms & Conditions
– This giveaway is open to USA residents only and will run until March 31st, 2013 at 12:00AM EST.
– Winner(s) will be generated via a random number generator software program. Winner will be notified via the twitter @ reply or instagram comment.
– Winner(s) will have until 4/2/13 to claim their Le Creuset French Oven or we will choose another winner.
– Winner will receive (1) 5 1/2 Quart Le Creuset French Oven in winner’s choice of Cassis, Caribbean Blue, or Soleil {$275.00 AVP}. Product will be shipped by Le Creuset.
– This giveaway is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook.
Disclosure: This giveaway is provided to you by Le Creuset. The views and opinions expressed by Amber Bracegirdle on Bluebonnets & Brownies are based entirely upon her experiences with the products listed. She was compensated monetarily for this post, but did receive the product listed for review.
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Homemade Easter Egg Dyes & a Le Creuset Giveaway – – – [/wpurp-searchable-recipe]
Smitty
Sunday 24th of March 2013
That's sheer genius! Now, if only we could figure out fennel and flame!
Mary Shivers
Thursday 21st of March 2013
Lovely eggs! Hope to win!
TidyMom
Thursday 21st of March 2013
they look beautiful Amber! I love this idea for dying eggs!
Casey@Good. Food. Stories.
Thursday 21st of March 2013
You know, I wasn't going to dye eggs this year (because I am lazy and only have brown eggs in my fridge - no, really), but I am running out to get a dozen white-shelled eggs TODAY! These are so flipping cute and I love their kitchen-y tie-in. Now I need to figure out how to make orange eggs to match my Flame LC.
Allison
Wednesday 20th of March 2013
I always use homemade natural dye recipes, but these colors here are fantastic! The kids are going to love these. Beautiful photos Amber!