Gold-flecked eggshells hold a delightful surprise - indigo blue cakes made with wild violet and blueberries!

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Notes on Substitutions: The violets in this recipe are optional, but they add a deeper color and floral flavor to these cakes. You can omit them completely, substitute with butterfly pea powder, or substitute with dried violas or pansies. This cake adapts well to being gluten-free; just substitute a cup-for-cup gluten-free flour mix for the all-purpose flour. 

Can you imagine how our hunter-gatherer ancestors must have felt when the first signs of spring started to appear? Tender young greens, freshly-laid eggs. Oh what a sweet relief those golden, protein-filled orbs of eggs would have been after a long, cold winter with dwindling food supplies! Early spring is a time of hope and new potential as seeds germinate in the thawing ground and animals give birth to new life. 

Eggs symbolize wholeness and serve as metaphors for the universe in many diverse ancient cultures. Many believed that life itself was born from some kind of a cosmic egg. And why shouldn’t they? It is, perhaps, the most strikingly obvious source of nourishment and new life. How miraculous that that golden yellow yolk in its sea of clear white can, with a little warmth and time, turn into a living chick with beating heart and sharp little beak. Humans, and perhaps even their pre-human hominid ancestors, have been collecting and dining on wild eggs for millennia. Eggs may have even been one of humanity’s very first foods as they are a convenient source of protein that can be eaten raw without any preparation or special tools, making them an easily accessible food source all over the world. Eggs are designed to contain all off of the food that an embryo would need to grow into a bird; as such, they are nutritional powerhouses full of protein, fat-soluble vitamins, and many other nutrients that our bodies need. The fatty acids in eggs play a vital role in the development of the nervous system and brain function.

While we have the luxury of being able to buy eggs any month of the year, our ancestors had to wait until spring’s hope-filled days. But even our modern chickens sense a shift now and begin laying more eggs when they’re exposed to the longer days of the natural cycle. If you raise your own chickens, you might be a little overwhelmed with eggs in spring. Not to worry - there are plenty of nourishing and delicious ways you can use them!

One of my favorite preparations of any cake is to pipe the batter into blown-out eggshells. I love seeing the wonder on my guests’ faces as they crack open their eggs to find the surprise of cake inside!  Blowing out your own eggshells is much easier than you might think, though it does feel a little odd to be doing at first! I have included detailed instructions and recipes below.

How to Blow Eggs: 

1. Clean the outside of the shell. You’ll be touching it with your mouth so you want it to be clean!

2. Using a thumbtack, carefully poke a small hole in the pointy end of the egg.

3. Poke another hole in the flatter end of the egg, then carefully enlarge it gently using the thumbtack or a wooden skewer. The hole should be about the side of a pea, and make sure it goes through the inner membrane as well as the shell. 

4. Poke a wooden skewer into the larger hole to break the yolk.

5. Holding the shell over a bowl to catch the contents, put your lips around the small hole on the pointy end and blow. The air will push the contents of the eggshell into the bowl. If you have to blow really hard, consider enlarging the bottom hole or make sure the membrane isn’t getting in the way. 

6. Fill the egg with water and shake around really well, then blow the water out to clean them. Allow to dry. Before using the shells you should boil them for 15 minutes to sterilize them and then allow to dry, sitting upright in an egg carton or on paper towels so they can drain properly. 

Blueberry Violet Cakes in Eggshells: 

These are beautiful indigo-colored cakes with a fresh blueberry flavor and less sweetness than most other cakes. (More like a muffin.)  You can skip the addition of powdered violets for a slightly milder color and flavor, or substitute butterfly pea flowers for an even richer blue. Be sure to  puree the blueberries as finely as possible so they can react with the baking powder and create a luscious blue cake. Also note that this cake is specifically designed for baking in eggshells; it may not work well as cupcakes or layered cake. (This recipe makes about 36 cake-filled eggs.) 

*tip: I find that usually it’s pretty easy to peel the eggs and get the cake out without oiling, but if you want a more easily peeled egg, squirt a little oil into each egg beforehand, shake it around well (covering the holes with your fingers), then let it drain completely onto some paper towels. 

Ingredients:

3/4 c. shortening

3/4 c. sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

3 Tbs. milk

1 c. blueberry puree (just blend thawed frozen blueberries in a blender until the mixture is smooth and consistent)

2 c. flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 Tbs. powdered dried violets (optional)

edible gold paint, optional

Directions:

1. Cream shortening and sugar until smooth and fluffy, then beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat until thick and yellow. Add vanilla and beat well. 

2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, violet powder, and salt. 

3. Mix the milk with the blueberry puree. 

4. Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the egg mixture and beat until just combined.. Then add 1/2 of the blueberry puree and mix. Continue to alternate between the dry mixture and the puree, beginning and ending with the dry mix. Be careful not to over-mix; you just want everything incorporated after each addition. 

5. Let the batter sit for about 15 minutes to give the blueberries time to react with the baking powder. Preheat oven to 325F. 

6. Meanwhile, prepare your baking pan: make little “nests” out of aluminum foil and place them in a muffin pan. Position your blown and prepared eggs pointy-side down (that should be the small hole side) in the nests, which should hold them steady and upright in the oven. 

7. Pour the batter into a pastry bag and pipe into prepared eggshells until they are 2/3 fill. (I’ve found that anywhere between 1 and 1.2 oz of batter is needed for each egg depending on size if that’s an easier way for you to tell how much batter has gone into each egg.)

8. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Some of the batter may “poof” out of the top during baking, but that’s okay. It’ll peel right off the shells when it cools. 

9. When the cakes have cooled, clean off any extra batter and wipe the shells clean. Use a new toothbrush or pastry brush to splatter the shells with the edible gold paint and allow to dry. 

10. Serve the eggs to your guests in a small nest and watch their faces fill with delight when they discover the cakes inside! 

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