Baking with Blue Eggs

Welcome back everyone, what an exciting, beautiful, expensive subject do we have here. You read that right…today I am baking with BLUE EGGS! After the discoveries I found during this experiment, I will correct my future children’s books to say Blue Eggs and Ham, because these eggs are something else. I have long had aspirations of writing this post and taking these photos after hearing that blue eggs were available at Sprouts several months ago.

Cooking and baking are some of my greatest passions, and I knew that at some point I had to get my hands on such an interesting ingredient. Today, I splashed some cash at Sprouts to see if I could taste the difference of a blue egg in one of my namesake specialties…Crème Brûlée. I chose Crème Brûlée to evaluate these eggs because like other custards,, the egg flavor is the foundation of this dessert, where you can easily taste quality compromises. My valuation on these eggs will be based on visual attributes, cooking performance, and the finished product and flavor. And for your pleasure, I included my Crème Brûlée recipe I used to test these eggs at the end of the blog post. Enjoy!

Visually

Stunning. These eggs are simply stunning. Between the variety of blue, brown, and speckled eggs nestled in a periwinkle carton, these eggs are plainly irresistible. If you scroll down to my photos below, you’ll notice that the “blue eggs” aren’t obviously blue. In person, and perhaps in the photo, the eggs take on a subdued blue-ish green hue. When cracked, the yokes are GOBSMACKING. Nearly translucent whites surround a fire-hot orange yolk that makes you do a double-take. My sweet god, I have never seen a naturally occurring orange color with such brilliance that wasn’t a Santa Fe summer sunset. And I knew the yolks would give me some impressive color, but I wasn’t prepared for the optical orgasm I would have. The opacity and vibrancy of the red-ish warm undertones the yolk pulls is bewildering. DEAD ASS, there is a God and she gave us blue eggs with blood orange yolks. When I normally make my Crème Brûlée, the yolks only slightly warm up the custard color to a pale yellow. My round of Crème Brûlée with the blue eggs was practically pure orange, a near creamsicle. The color stayed consistently vibrant at pour, bake, and brûlée, and I am now starting to question every other egg I used to make this dessert before. And I assure you, these eggs are not just a pretty face.

Cooking Performance

Unlike the visual appeal of these eggs, I didn’t know what to expect from their cooking performance. The shells weren’t easier nor harder to crack than ordinary eggs, but the quality really showed when I got working with them. It was love at first wisk! With one tap of my wisk into the yolk, it completely collapsed, delicate and obviously fresh. Beating a normal egg takes just as much work as ripping the 26th Diet Coke out of Trump’s hands. The egg incorporated beautifully into the rest of my custard, adding a super rich density in both texture and color to the warm milk and sugar. Once those long and gruesome 50 minutes of baking were finished, I immediately noticed, to my heart’s content, the custard held its gorgeous color through the slow bake in the water bath.

Finished Product & Flavor

As much as I would love to pay $7.99 for a dozen of beautiful, cooperative eggs, I would hope that paying a premium would yield premium results you could taste. After several hours of chilling, I was ready to brûlée my Crèmes and reach the discoveries of my thesis. Like my standard Crèmes, they brûléed with ease and even caramelization, cooling quickly. Spoon in the hand of my trusted taste tester, my love, Garrett, we cracked into the sugar shell of my Blue Egg Crème Brûlée. I exhaled a deeply held breath to find a vibrant custard center, perfectly cooked. With hyper-sensitive taste buds working overtime, I found the texture rich and creamy, yet incredibly light for a custard. And to my delight, the expensive, full-flavored egg was unmistakably present. Garrett’s eyes dilated at the first bite, and I was elated with the clear difference I could taste. My co-taster abbreviated his “Oh my Gods” with commentary on how this was one of the best of the many Crème Brûlées he’s ever had. If he hadn’t gorged himself of his dinner prior, he likely would have eaten the remaining two Crèmes I had.

My Conclusions

Are these a gimmick?: Absolutely not, but I can see how you may think so passing these in the refrigerated cases at Sprouts. $7.99 eggs seems almost insulting to my intelligence, but that’s if you’re thinking of using these for daily use, which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend. These eggs pull serious color and flavor, but I do think there is certainly a time and occasion to splurge on these eggs. Say, on Crème Brûlée or other special occasion egg focused dishes. Buy and cook with these eggs when you’re hosting the in-laws.

Would I buy them again?: I would and will buy these eggs again, and I am not sure if I could ever make Crème Brûlée without them again. Considering how simple and accessible the other ingredients are, I am more than happy to spend a little extra money for such impressive results. I am a big proponent of spending the necessary money on things that bring you joy, and that, these eggs do at every angle. Beauty and excellence are things I value, and everything from the packaging, to the eggs themselves, and the product quality hits the highest marks.

My Go- To Vanilla Crème Brûlée

Recipe by NYTimes Cooking

Ingredients

Serves 4

5 egg yolks- blue is worth your buck ;)
2 cups of light cream
1/2 cup of sugar (plus more for brûlée-ing)
A dollop of vanilla bean paste (or 1 tsp of vanilla extract)
A pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
In a small sauce pan, heat the milk and salt until just warm, wisking occasionally. Pull off heat once warm
In a separate bowl, wisk egg yolks with sugar until thickened and smooth.
Pour a third of the warm milk mixture into the egg mixture, wisking to combine.
Combine the egg mixture into the rest of the warm milk, stirring. Add vanilla bean paste.
Fill four 6oz. oven-safe ramekins into a baking dish, and fill the parameter of the baking dish half way up the ramekins with boiling water.
Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, until just set.
Remove from oven, allow to cool out of the water until at room temperature. Then refrigerate for several hours, up to a few days, with saran wrap gently pressed against the custard, preventing condensation.
Once cooled and ready to brûlée, cover the custards evenly with sugar, and using a culinary torch, melt the sugar (carefully) until the sugar dances and browns evenly.
Allow to cool for a minute or two, then serve.