These marble eggs are so easy to make and they always turn out different. You will never have the same egg twice, so be sure and take pictures of these to look back on.
When Spane was just a little guy, we lived down the block from a small grocery store where I got milk and vegetables. One day as I was standing at the counter, I noticed the proprietress had these amazing looking eggs in a basket. She told me the eggs were decorated with onion skins, right from her shop. It was a tradition in her home country, Armenia, and she told me how to make them. She even gave me some skins to take home.
Well, I’ve been making onion skin marble eggs every Easter since then. Since I keep my onions in a box in the pantry, I have plenty of skins for making eggs this year, but in the past, I have not been so lucky. It’s okay. If you go to the supermarket and ask the produce manager for skins, they will be happy to accommodate you. My supermarket gave me a plastic bag and said I was more than welcome to grab as many loose skins as I could find. True the check out person gave me a funny look, but when I explained what it was for, they just bagged them up with the rest of my stuff free of charge.
Skins to Use for Marbled Eggs
You can use brown onion skins or if you want a more purple color, you can use red onion skins. White skins don’t offer much, so I don’t recommend them. I like using pieces of pantyhose to keep the skins on. Butterfly clips are a great way to keep the covering closed while the eggs are in vinegar water.
Don’t worry about the eggs tasting like onions when you decide to eat them. They taste just like regular hard-boiled eggs. Use them just like you would use cooked eggs, maybe even make Deviled Eggs.
Supplies
- 4 pieces onion skin
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- 3 quarts water
- 1 teaspoon Sunflower oil or other unflavored oil
Instructions
- Cut the cheesecloth so that it will tightly fit around the egg and can be secured with a binder clip.
- Put the cheesecloth in the palm of your hand. Then gather a few pieces of onion skin and put that on the cheesecloth.
- Put an egg on top of the onion skin and top it with more onion skins.
- Bring the cheesecloth up and around, being sure that all the egg is covered with a piece of onion skin. Close the top, twist it, and secure it with the binder clip.
- Fill a saucepan with water. Add the vinegar. Carefully lower the eggs into the water.
- Cover the pan and put the heat on high. When the water comes to a boil, let it boil for 2 minutes then take the pot off the heat. Let it sit, covered for 20 minutes.
- Remove the eggs from the water and let them sit to cool until you can handle them.
- Carefully remove the cheesecloth and onion skins. Let them sit for about 5 or 10 minutes to dry then use a cotton ball dipped in oil to oil the eggs and make them shiny. Put them in a nice basket.
- Be sure to eat them or refrigerate them in at least two hours. Enjoy!
