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Ecodecor of Easter eggs

Natural Grain-and-Spice Easter Egg Decorating

An original, eco-friendly way to decorate eggs for Easter! These days a lot of people are thinking about the planet, and green living is more popular than ever. In that spirit, I'd love to share a great way to decorate Easter eggs — it's not only fun, it's also eco-friendly!

Nika

Recipe author

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Eggs

Potato starch

Water

150

Millet

Wild rice

Rolled oats

Nuts and seeds (pumpkin seeds)

Sunflower seeds

Cloves

Bay leaf

Italian herbs

Chili pepper (ground)

Saffron

Basil

Gelatin (granulated)

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 32 % 12 g

Fats 19 % 7 g

Carbohydrates 49 % 18 g

176 kcal

GI: 33 / 39 / 28

Cooking method

Step 1:

Gather everything. Use any eggs, but white ones work best. For the starch paste, you'll need water and potato starch. For decoration, you can use grains (corn, oats, buckwheat), seasonings and spices (sesame, rosemary, dried herbs, bay leaf, paprika), small flower buds, and so on. It all comes down to your imagination and whatever grains and spices you have at home.
Step 2:

Take the eggs out of the fridge ahead of time. Wash them to remove any dirt on the shells and let them sit at room temperature for a while.
Step 3:

Put the eggs in a pot and cover them with warm water. Having the water and eggs at roughly the same temperature avoids a sudden temperature shock that could crack the shells. Set the pot over the heat. Once it boils, cook the eggs over medium heat for 10–12 minutes. Transfer the hard-boiled eggs to a bowl of cold water — this makes the shells easier to handle later.
Step 4:

Now make the starch paste that holds all the decorations on. Pour 50 ml of cold water into a small bowl, add the potato starch, and stir. Pour the remaining 100 ml of water into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. Whisking the water, drizzle in the starch mixture in a thin stream. Keep cooking the paste for a few minutes, stirring constantly, until it's nice and thick. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
Step 5:

Take the cooled eggs out of the water and pat them dry. Using an ordinary brush, dab the paste onto the part of the egg you want to cover with grain or spice.
Step 6:

Press the pasted part of the egg gently into the decoration, then set the egg on a plate with the decorated side up so it can dry and set. Do the same with the other eggs.
Step 7:

Come back to the first egg. Once that section has set, paste the next part of the egg and press it into a different grain or spice. Keep going until every part of every egg is decorated.
Step 8:

Some of the decoration will flake off as it dries, but that's nothing to worry about. If you like, you can paste on bay leaves, flower buds, sprigs of herbs, and so on over the top.

Be careful which seasonings you pick, since some — turmeric, for example — will stain. If you don't mind a stained tablecloth, use them freely. After handling the shells, I'd also recommend washing your hands well so you don't accidentally stain your clothes or anything else.
How do you know if an egg is fresh? Crack it into a separate bowl. First, there should be no off smell. The white of a fresh egg is clear and clean, and the yolk should hold its shape — shiny, domed, and even — rather than spreading out.