Making Confetti Eggs (Cascarónes)

Last year, Oliver was introduced to confetti eggs in Texas. Andrew's extended family in Texas were surprised to learn that I'd never seen confetti eggs before. Apparently, they're a tradition from Mexico's Carnival that's been adapted for Easter celebrations in Texas. All the grocery stores there sell egg cartons full of these confetti eggs that you bust open. Here's Oliver checking them out:

Well, in spite of our high Mexican-Hispanic population here in the Denver area, I've never seen confetti eggs sold in supermarkets or anywhere else. So, I decided to set the bar high and make some of my own. But wait, you're thinking. It's still February! You're right, of course. And to that, I answer: If I'm going to hollow out a couple dozen eggs before Easter next month, then I think I'd better start now. OK, yeah, maybe I'm just crazy...

Well, read on to see how I made confetti eggs. I got the step-by-step instructions from Martha Stewart's website. I took photos of each step as I did them.
I decided to use 8 eggs to make the Asparagus Mushroom Strata that I've mentioned before in my blog. I love that recipe because you make it the night before and just pop it in the oven the next morning. Anyway! So, I needed 8 eggs, so I used a knife and carefully poked holes into the wide end of each egg. Martha Stewart's step-by-step instructions recommend using scissors, but I couldn't seem to get a good angle with those. After poking a hole in one egg, I'd rinse my knife and poke a hole in the yolk inside and then let it all drain out into a bowl. A few shell pieces would get in there, and I had to fish them out. This step took a little bit of time.

Once I had my 8 shells, I rinsed them out well and let them dry. Then, I dyed them with my PAAS egg dye. I used two of the six color tablets it came with. I plan on doing this project twice more before Easter to use the remaining pellets. I love the green, but the pink came out very splotchy. I thought I dissolved the pink tablet in the vinegar completely, but maybe some got stuck to the bottom or side of my cup or something.

Next came the boring and most time consuming part of the whole process. I cut up what seemed like a million pieces of paper into confetti. I used this small bowl to fill 4 eggs. I had to cut up more confetti to fill the rest.

Martha Stewart recommended using a funnel to fill the eggs. That did not work for me. The papers just got stuck in the thin part of the funnel. I ditched the funnel idea and just pinched the confetti into the eggs with my fingers. This step actually went very quickly and was kind of fun. Well, it was fun compared to cutting confetti.

After that, I sealed the opening in each egg with a square of tissue paper and glue. I just used a glue stick, but you can use whatever you have on hand.

Voila! In total, I spent $3.50 on the dye and $2 on the tissue paper (I had a coupon for Michael's craft store). So, the current cost for the 8 confetti eggs is $5.50. I'm planning on getting a total of two dozen before Easter, so my total should be $5.50 for two dozen eggs. I'm not counting the cost of the eggs because we'd buy and use them for food anyway. These are just the shells that would end up in the garbage!

If you're interested in making confetti eggs and have the storage space, consider just poking, draining, and cleaning your eggs as you use them before Easter. Then, you can dye and fill your eggs all at once.

In case you're wondering, the strata came out perfect again!