During the holidays, Pete and I didn’t get to our local produce markets, so when we finally made it there, I got a little carried away at the egg stall. Normally I’d buy a tray of 30 free-range eggs (for an outrageously cheap $6) – enough to tide us over for a fortnight – and occasionally I’ll splurge on some duck eggs for baking.
Last week I bought a standard tray and a dozen duck eggs, forgetting that I had a carton at home that I’d purchased – reluctantly – from the supermarket to see us through the festive season. Then our wonderful egg man decided to give me an extra tray of tiny eggs as a New Year’s gift. And all of a sudden, I had eighty-four eggs in the fridge, and there weren’t any fruit cakes or Christmas presents left to be baked!
Of course, the market eggs are always super-fresh, which means they’ll be fine for at least a month in the fridge. But it’s still a lot of eggs, so here’s what I’ve been doing to reduce the glut.
I thought about making some lemon curd, but we’ve got so much jars of jam open in the fridge at the moment that we might not get to it.
Instead, I baked Dan Lepard’s Chocolate Brandy Layer Cake, following his instructions here. I omitted the hazelnuts, since there weren’t any in the pantry. We ended up with an excess of custard frosting, which I thinned with a little milk and then churned into hazelnut chocolate icecream. Five eggs down…
I made two batches of shortbread cookie freezer dough, which needed six egg yolks, and turned the whites into meringues (half of which went into the freezer as well)…
Joanna’s kugelhopf recipe used up a further four eggs…and turning the leftovers into bread and butter pudding should account for another five!
Lastly, I made scotched egg meatloaf – four baby boiled eggs in the middle, and one egg as binder. It’s topped with roasted tomato passata and slices of dry cured pancetta.
I’d be grateful for any other suggestions….I’ve been thinking about making pickled eggs, but I’m not sure the boys will eat them!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I just wanted to say thanks for the welding gloves and the bronze bookmarkers! I got them today and they are both fabulous. I have already started marking up my most used recipes from my Slovak cookbook!
And wonderful job on using up the excess eggs! I must say I’m super jealous of the fabulous price on the farm fresh eggs. I buy from an organic market here and the price tag is hefty!
I must try the scotched egg meatloaf! It looks divine and I know my two young boys would love it because they LOVE hardboiled eggs! And bacon lol :D
Maryann, I’m so glad the parcel arrived – thanks for letting me know! :)
The eggs are indeed a bargain – we’re very fortunate to be able to get them at such a great price. They’re produced by these guys – not organic, but free range and always so fresh. The meatloaf was great, and Pete turned the leftovers into a wonderful spaghetti sauce the following night! :)
Cheers, Celia
Nigella’s flourless clementine cake uses 6 eggs – and the porcini and tomato soup uses 3. You must be down to about 70?!
Under 60 now, Anna! :)
Thank you, but the clementine cake isn’t for me – not a big orange citrus fan, and the idea of the whole fruit being boiled and blitzed leaves me completely cold..
top tea cakes ! http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2007/nov/24/foodanddrink.baking22
make the panettone variation at the bottom of the article – six eggs in total!
Joanna, thanks – I’ll check out Dan’s recipes (they’re always good!).
Hi Celia, how about some fresh egg pasta? What you don’t eat keeps very well in the freezer.
Great idea, Sue, thank you! I hadn’t thought of pasta. We don’t usually make our own (because I can’t make it better than my mate Joe at Peppe’s Pasta), but it is always fun to do and it’s been ages since we’ve had the old pasta machine out. Might be a nice holiday pastime for the boys…
Cheers, Celia
Two more eggy thoughts, have you ever made floating island pudding? Poached soft meringue on a sea of custard. You either like the texture or you don’t. There is a chocolate custard version too but the plain vanilla one is more ‘elegant’ if that’s the right word.
Or have a party and do stuffed eggs in the style of the early seventies, hard boil your eggs, peel, halve them long ways, take out yolks, mix with mayonnaise, pile elegantly back into whites, and sprinkle with paprika, arrange on plate with sprigs of greenery. It was my job as a kid to make these!
A feast of eggy things, and not a fried egg in site!
The River Cafe Chocolate Nemesis cake uses 10 eggs…and is absolutely divine. Or you could try and Indian egg curry for something different.
Jo, I’ve never tried floating islands, although I have seen them made. I assume the texture of the meringue is like that of lemon meringue pie? Jacques Pepin has a recipe which looks nice. Not sure I’d get it past the boys though – they’re not great with mushy textured foods. Stuffed eggs, on the other hand, is a great suggestion, thanks!
SG, I’ve made a Fijian/Indian egg curry before and it was very nice. I was thinking of making soya sauce eggs, but didn’t have the necessary ingredients on hand. I’ve bought some cream so Pete can make some ice cream for the boys – that should help reduce the glut a bit more. :)
Celia
Superb job using the number of eggs you’ve used so far!!!! I LOVE the scotched egg meatloaf. Celia, you are a star. I love you. When can you come to Europe on holiday? Bring Pete and the boys!
Why not try baked eggs and spinach/kale. I don’t have a recipe but, am looking for one!!!!!!
Oz, you’re too sweet! :) I’m so glad to have found your blog – I check in to see what you’re up to every day, so please keep posting! Baked eggs sound nice…maybe for a brunch?