You know I love eggs, and for so many reasons. I always think it's a treat when I see baked eggs on the menu at a restaurant. Poached eggs, sure, but I rarely see baked eggs on the offering so I get excited when I do spot it.
Somehow, baked eggs feel like a treat...maybe it's just me but there's something seemingly luxurious about it. It's a wonder I've never made it at home. As basic as it sounds, it's been on my list of things to whip up one day at home and I finally did it over the past weekend.
This is your blank canvas of baked eggs. I simply baked the eggs with some salt and pepper and a drizzle of whole milk. We had turkey bacon and some toast soldiers on the side with it. It was a fun way to have eggs differently for breakfast. Variety keeps things interesting and gives us something to talk about (well...picture me going on and on about eggs...) so it's definitely a good thing.
I think I might have figured out why baked eggs seem so luxurious to me when I order it at a restaurant. Aside from the fact that it takes a little extra effort to make, it just might be the heavy cream and likely cheese and other little touches that have been added to it.
At home, I settled into a more modest, simple baked egg but, as you know, the possibilities of adding flavor and dolling them up are almost endless. You can incorporate any and everything from cooked onions, leeks, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms to adding some herbs, cheese, and bacon or ham to it.
Water bath or no water bath?
In an effort to try and provide some value-add here today (I can't promise that all the time...as you have no doubt realized, this blog is all about the random, chocolate-leaning, whims of a true amateur), I thought I'd try to figure out whether a hot water bath is necessary when it comes to making baked eggs.
If you've looked into this, you've no doubt seen recipes that call for a water bath to set the eggs into when baking and others that make no mention of any such thing.
I was curious and did a little testing. In my distinctly unprofessional opinion, I'd say you should use a water bath. I found that the one baked in a water bath cooked more gently and evenly through (on the left, above), meaning I ended up with a softer, smoother-textured baked egg. The egg baked in the oven without a water bath was good but not as silky. I would note that the egg baked without the water bath cooked quicker. Depending on how you look at it, that might be a good thing and the overall convenience might sway you into making them that way.
In general, I'd just say that keeping a close eye on the eggs while baking is the most important thing to do when making these. For me, I like my egg yolks runny and soft while the whites are just set.
One of my first stops when I hit the farmer's market is to grab a box of eggs. I love when I open up the box and see a variety of colors, sizes, and well, even the dirt on some of them. I'm happy to use some of these for our breakfast of baked eggs.
I was also happy for an excuse to whip up a loaf of English muffin bread, too! I toasted a couple of slices up and cut them into batons or soldiers to go alongside. It's classic and I'm into that.
Now...about baking the eggs. Ideally, if you're just baking one egg at a time, small, 2-3 ounce, ramekins are perfect. With a slightly larger ramekin, you can easily fit 2 eggs in at a time. The key really is to keep an eye on them if doing both because the single egg cooks quicker than the duo. I simply sprinkled the tops of the eggs with salt and pepper. As I mentioned, I drizzled the top with some milk, rather than cream. The extra liquid is meant to help the egg from potentially drying out. A little extra moisture doesn't hurt.
I set my eggs (including the one I baked without a hot water bath) in a 350 degree oven. From there on, it's all about the timing and how you want your eggs done.
I prefer a soft, essentially-runny egg yolk, with set whites. For the egg baked without a water bath, that meant about 13-14 minutes. The single egg in the water bath took about 18-20 minutes, and the ramekin with two eggs inside needed a little over 20 minutes, about 22-23 minutes. (It's not as complicated as it sounds if you're not trying to take pictures and document what you're doing!)
Eventually, we all sat down and dug into our eggs, toast, and turkey bacon. That's always the fun part...and truth be told, I often can't wait to make the same thing I did again, without the photographing and rushing, so I can enjoy the process even more.
I love breakfast and eggs!
Recipe:
Basic Baked Eggs
Adapted from Cooking Light and The Kitchn
- For two eggs here; adjust according to your needs -
Olive oil (or butter), to coat ramekins
2 large eggs
Salt & pepper
2 teaspoons milk (or cream)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have a small oven-safe baking dish (or one large enough to hold the number of ramekins you're baking if making more) as well as a kettle of very hot water on standby.
Coat the inside of two small ramekins (2-3 ounce ramekins are ideal; if using larger 5-6 ounce ramekins, fit two eggs into each) with some olive oil. Carefully (so as not to break the yolk) crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the tops of the eggs with salt and pepper, then top each with a teaspoon of milk. Set ramekins into the baking dish (you can line the bottom of the baking dish with a dish towel to prevent the ramekins from sliding when moved) and fill the dish with very hot water, about halfway up the sides of the ramekin. Carefully transfer to the oven.
Bake until whites are set. For a soft, slightly-runny egg yolks, this takes roughly 18-20 minutes. Keep a close eye on the eggs near the end of the bake time to avoid over-cooking and bear in mind that bake time may take longer if you're using larger ramekins and baking two in each.
At home, I settled into a more modest, simple baked egg but, as you know, the possibilities of adding flavor and dolling them up are almost endless. You can incorporate any and everything from cooked onions, leeks, spinach, tomatoes, and mushrooms to adding some herbs, cheese, and bacon or ham to it.
Water bath or no water bath?
In an effort to try and provide some value-add here today (I can't promise that all the time...as you have no doubt realized, this blog is all about the random, chocolate-leaning, whims of a true amateur), I thought I'd try to figure out whether a hot water bath is necessary when it comes to making baked eggs.
If you've looked into this, you've no doubt seen recipes that call for a water bath to set the eggs into when baking and others that make no mention of any such thing.
 |
| The baked egg on the left was baked in a water bath, right one was not |
In general, I'd just say that keeping a close eye on the eggs while baking is the most important thing to do when making these. For me, I like my egg yolks runny and soft while the whites are just set.
One of my first stops when I hit the farmer's market is to grab a box of eggs. I love when I open up the box and see a variety of colors, sizes, and well, even the dirt on some of them. I'm happy to use some of these for our breakfast of baked eggs.
Recipe:
Basic Baked Eggs
Adapted from Cooking Light and The Kitchn
- For two eggs here; adjust according to your needs -
Olive oil (or butter), to coat ramekins
2 large eggs
Salt & pepper
2 teaspoons milk (or cream)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Have a small oven-safe baking dish (or one large enough to hold the number of ramekins you're baking if making more) as well as a kettle of very hot water on standby.
Coat the inside of two small ramekins (2-3 ounce ramekins are ideal; if using larger 5-6 ounce ramekins, fit two eggs into each) with some olive oil. Carefully (so as not to break the yolk) crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the tops of the eggs with salt and pepper, then top each with a teaspoon of milk. Set ramekins into the baking dish (you can line the bottom of the baking dish with a dish towel to prevent the ramekins from sliding when moved) and fill the dish with very hot water, about halfway up the sides of the ramekin. Carefully transfer to the oven.
Bake until whites are set. For a soft, slightly-runny egg yolks, this takes roughly 18-20 minutes. Keep a close eye on the eggs near the end of the bake time to avoid over-cooking and bear in mind that bake time may take longer if you're using larger ramekins and baking two in each.
