Eggs Dyed with Blackberries
You could color your eggs with blackberries if you didn’t get any egg dye for your Easter project or just want to try something more natural than the dye tablets! This recipe shows you how to make gorgeous colored eggs with just a few simple ingredients and some time, whether for Easter-themed festivities or just for a little fun. Why not try something new this year?
What You’ll Need
Like with regular egg dye kits, you’ll need some vinegar and water. But the only other thing you’ll need to make the color is blackberries and your hard-boiled eggs for coloring. You will need a pot to heat the berries on the stovetop so that they can properly release their color. And that’s it!
Why Use Blackberries?
The color that comes from blackberries is stunning, and it is strong enough to be able to substitute as a dye for egg coloring instead of using store-bought tablets. You can also experiment with other types of berries and fruits that have heavy coloring to them to make more options, but blackberries are our choice.
How Much Vinegar Do I Use?
Today’s recipe calls for one quart of water and one cup of vinegar. You don’t want to use over a cup of vinegar, or it will dissolve your eggshells too much while they sit in the dye mixture, but you can do less if it makes you more comfortable. Vinegar is just the ingredient that makes sure the coloring will truly stick to and soak into your shells.
Do These Take a Long Time?
Since you’re making your natural dye from blackberries and it will dilute it down, you will have to leave the eggs in the mixture for much longer than just one or two minutes like store-bought kits can do. But you can take them out anytime to check the color and stop whenever you feel that it’s best.
What Color Does This Make?
Natural dyes inside of berries are unique, which means they won’t necessarily be a precise color you can name or even all the same color. That’s what makes this recipe so fun! Eggs will likely turn out an interesting mix of blue and purple tones with patterning depending on how long they sit and what color your berries released more.
Can I Shorten The Time?
If you don’t want to wait as long, you’re technically able to make the dye mixed with the leftover water and color from the blackberries plus vinegar mixed in, then actually boil your eggs in it as you would with normal water hard boil them. It can give some results you wouldn’t expect! And remove a little of the wait time.
Are They Safe to Eat?
Yep! Like any other Easter egg dye kit you purchase at the store, your hard-boiled eggs will be perfectly safe to eat. They’ll technically be even safer since all they have on them is blackberries and water instead of dyes if you’re someone that has dye allergies or just doesn’t like the impacts of coloring agents.
But When Can I Do This?
Since it’s past Easter time when you’d normally make these, why try it? It can be a science project or a fun craft with your kids. It can also be a way to connect with your inner child and get some enjoyment out of the day. You don’t have to have a special occasion to make some fun eggs!
Whether you choose to use this right away or save it for another time, using berries to color your wonderful Easter eggs, or just for fun science and enjoyment today, you don’t need much, and you can even leave the eggs to color while you do the rest of your needs and chores for the day. Let’s try this unique idea by following the recipe below for eggs dyed with blackberries.
Eggs Dyed with Blackberries
Ingredients
- 1 Quart Water
- 4 Cups Vinegar
- 1 Cup Vinegar
- Boiled Eggs
Instructions
- Add the water and blackberries to a boiling pot and let simmer for about 5 minutes before smashing the blackberries.
- Stir and let simmer for another 5 minutes.
- Strain the mixture and add the vinegar to the remaining liquid.
- Add the eggs to the liquid and let them set in the dye until they reach the color you desire. I left them in the dye for about 8 hours.
- Remove the foam from the top of the dye and gently remove the eggs from the bowl.
- Place them on paper towels to dry, flipping after a few minutes for the other side to finish drying. Have fun!
Notes
- I have seen a few other recipes call for only 1 tablespoon of vinegar and when we tried that, it didn’t allow the dye to really cling to the eggs. So, it’s imperative that you use enough vinegar in your mixture. However, don’t go over 1 cup of the vinegar could eat at the shell of the egg.
- We dyed about 12 eggs at once, but you can dye however many you want, you just might have to do it in batches like you would with most dying techniques.
- I left my eggs in the dye for about 8 hours. You can play with how long you want your eggs in the dye. You will get varying shades of color as you would with any dying technique.
- This dye won’t produce just one color on the eggs. It turns out to be a gorgeous mottled color of bluish purples and it’s absolutely stunning.
- If you want to try another technique, you can use fresh eggs and boil them in the blackberry mixture as you prepare it. You’ll want to up the cook time of the blackberries to about 30 minutes with this method. I haven’t tried this myself, but I’ve heard it works just as well.