Egg Tapping and Colouring Easter Eggs

In our family, we have an Easter tradition. While the very young ones get excited over an Easter Egg Hunt and reap their chocolaty rewards in a sugar-induced frenzy, the adults (and the children) eagerly await the end of the Easter meal to play a game of their own.

The egg tapping game involving dye-coloured eggs is more anticipated than unwrapping the foil off an egg and sinking teeth into chocolate goodness. While the adults appear to wait patiently, they’re pre-selecting the best egg based on their winning criteria such as shape, colour, size and apparent strength. But before the game can be played, the eggs need to be hard boiled and coloured.

How to make Coloured Easter Eggs

The eggs are boiled for approximately 7 minutes on medium to high heat. Once they’ve cooled down, the coloured dye is prepared. Coloured food dyes can be bought in stores and delicatessens and have the instructions for colouring the eggs on the packet. It usually involves adding the dye to warm water and white vinegar then dipping the eggs in for a few minutes and allowing them to dry. Once the dye has set, the coloured eggs are rubbed with a paper towel soaked in a little oil to give them a light sheen.

Primary colours can be mixed to get a desired colour, such as red and blue to make purple. Eggs can also be dyed into a shade of amber by boiling them with brown onion skins.

How to Play the Egg Tapping Game

The game begins after dessert while everyone is still seated around the dinner table. You usually play against the person sitting beside you. Each person chooses an egg from the basket and cups it in their hand. You negotiate with your opponent who is going to initiate the tapping and who is going to be on the receiving end. Then the tapper gently taps the tip of their egg over their opponent’s.

The one whose tip or end breaks turns their egg over.

You tap again, and repeat. If your egg remains unbroken, you can play against another person.

The winner is the one who is left holding the unbroken egg.

Tip to tip tapping is allowed, so is tip to end, and vice versa. You do not tap the side of the egg.

There aren’t any tricks to winning, though it doesn’t stop some members of our family from banging their egg hard on their opponents’ in lieu of a gentle tap hoping that the impact will shatter theirs or cupping their egg close in their hand with only the very tip showing to reduce impact. Neither method is fool-proof but makes for a fun argument at the dinner table.

Every year, the winner is offered all the broken eggs to take home and eat. But in reality, the eggs are divided amongst those who like to eat egg sandwiches for the rest of the week.

Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques!