How to use bento egg moulds

I talked about how I've been upping the interest for Ellie's food previously. The bento shapes and moulds have been a bit of a hit actually! I've been getting a fair few questions about it, so I thought I should write up a how-to for using the bento egg moulds.

They're cute little things, and if it means that Ellie will eat more during this picky eating phase, I'm all for it. They are quite time consuming, so I wouldn't do them every day, but they're quite fun and a bit of a hit if I take them to a picnic or party.

These are the egg moulds I have (the pink and orange ones) - they're a clamshell type, with a closing fastener. There are other sorts, but they should have the clamshell and the fastener so that you get the proper shape and function when you're using them. I picked mine up from eBay.

Materials

• Small saucepan
• Eggs
• Spoon
• Bowl of cold water
• Egg moulds

Egg size and type

Make sure you choose the right sized eggs upfront. I find that large, or extra large work best. You may need to experiment a bit to find which ones fit best. 

I like to use eggs which are a little bit older as well, as I've found that fresh eggs are harder to peel and don't come off with a nice smooth exterior. About a week or so is ideal, and if you're buying from a supermarket, that's probably what you'll get anyway.

Boiling and preparing the eggs

Boil the eggs by putting them in cold water and bringing it slowly to the boil. Once the water is boiling, remove the pan from the heat, put on the lid and leave them to sit for about 9 minutes.

Note, that you want to make sure that they egg yolk ends up in the middle of the egg instead of on one side. For that reason, you need to roll the eggs around while the water is on the way to boiling. I use a spoon and just move the eggs around, rotating them as I stir.

After the eggs are ready, I use my stirring spoon to transfer them to a bowl of cold water, reserving the saucepan water. Then to peel them nicely, crack the shell and peel carefully.

Note, that egg moulds require you to have a hot egg, which is more pliable than a cold one but I'm pretty slow at peeling and I don't have teflon hands, so I need to let them cool down a little for handling. To get around this, I transfer my peeled eggs back into the pan of hot water I used to boil them in before using the moulds. Thrifty huh!

Using the egg moulds

You'll need a bowl of cold water. I just refresh the water in bowl that I used when peeling the eggs as it usually has warmed up by then. Open a mould and dunk it in the water to help make sure your egg doesn't stick.

  

Put in your hot egg. The egg mould shape will let you know how to place the egg - for example, the bunny is thinner toward the ears, so put the egg in with the wider end down.

Close the mould firmly. Don't be shy or start to worry if some of the egg white squishes out at the sides or bottom. Close the fastener until it clicks. Put the whole mould back into your bowl of cold water and let it sit there for at least 10 minutes. At this stage, you can put them in the fridge and leave overnight if you want to.

That's it! When you're ready, just crack open your moulds.

I knew the bunny was going to be a bit messy when I closed it off. It's not too bad - definitely fixable. I just use a sharp knife to cut off all the messy bits.

The bear also came out pretty well, but you can see that I broke a little of the white when peeling so he has a little pock on his face, and the egg was slightly too small for the mould so the ears didn't form as they should. Still perfectly serviceable though.

The end result!

Do you like to eat cute things? How do you make food appealing for the small people or picky eaters in your life?

What's in my kitchen, March 2015

Hello Autumn! While I'm sure that there will be plenty of lovely warm soups and casserole meals appearing in my kitchen soon, I'm still enjoying the unseasonably warm weather and the amazing fruits and vegetables available now. I can't even begin to comprehend that it's a new season already when it's still so unbelievably hot. So without further ado, here's what's in my kitchen lately:

In my kitchen is...

Vegan cupcakes from a local Brisbane business. We are not hugely into romance for the sake of a day, but, very strong hinting on my part resulted in Mr Fork getting me a box of vegan cupcakes for Valentine's Day. Because... well, CAKE! That I didn't have to make for myself! Who needs flowers when you have a husband bring you coffee in the morning, and then disappear with the toddler, only to reappear with cupcakes in hand? I know, right!

Ellie handed them to me with a "Mama these are for you," and then staked a claim with, "share please, mama!"

Flavours were Red Velvet (made red with beetroot), Pink Guava, and my personal favourite of the three, Black Forest. The Black Forest is cherry liqueur infused double chocolate, drizzled with more cherry liqueur and then filled with black cherry jam, topped with vanilla buttercream, cupcake cutout, ganache and a cherry. YUM!

In my kitchen is...

Bento accessories! Ellie has been fighting mealtimes lately, so in an attempt to make food more interesting, I've purchased a few bento accessories for her. I'm starting small in case she doesn't like them, but pictured below is a bear shaped sandwich cutter/press, and two egg/rice moulds in the shape of a bear and a bunny.

It's been a bit of a hit actually. Sandwiches are now requested to be "bear sandwich please mama", and I oblige happily. It's a bit of a win/win, as I get to eat all the crusts that are leftover (I think bread crusts are delicious).

I don't eat eggs myself, but Mr Fork buys them from a lady he works with so I know these eggs are organic and from happy hens. I had a go at shaping an egg for Ellie, but there was a bit of a mishap when I got to the peeling stage, so on opening the mould, my cute bunny looked more than a little rabid with it's missing part. No matter, Ellie still enjoyed eating him. Egg moulding is quite an arduous yet interesting process, so I think I'll blog more about it in a separate post. I also have yet to try rice moulding too, although I expect that to be much simpler.

In my kitchen is...

Veggie straws. These were purchased on a whim from Aldi. I thought they were dehydrated vegetable snacks based on the packaging, but I probably should have investigated further instead of just a cursory ingredient check. These funny, square, hollow strips are far removed from vegetables and instead are a puffy mix of potato flour, oil and starch, with tomato puree, spinach powder, salt, sugar and 'flavours' added. I was not very impressed with the taste - I found them bland and would much rather have munched on a real veggie stick with some hommus instead. Ellie however, loved them, so she gets to have them as a special treat. When they are gone, I shan't be getting any more though.

In my kitchen is...

Coconut and raspberry loaf. This is a variation on my standard four ingredient coconut loaf. So easy, Ellie can make it herself (and does, although I help with ingredient measuring and the oven work). I love that she is showing an interest in cooking, and also, in the creating and eating of her masterpieces! As an aside, I'm also loving that she enjoys the clean up part too...

In my kitchen is...

Eggplants a-plenty! I'm harvesting upwards of ten or so eggplants a week at the moment so they've featured pretty heavily on the menu lately. I've had lasagne, moussaka, stuffed and just plain roasted to turn into babaganoush. I have also roasted some and frozen the flesh for use later. And still they keep coming! I really need to find a local garden share near me.

In my kitchen is...

Space! After last month's post where I vented about the uselessness of those jelly maker gadgets, I went on a decluttering spree! I figured that kitchen space is much too valuable to waste on things that I don't use and with that in mind, I was ruthless. I culled corn cob holders and a whole plethora of plastic cutlery that Ellie seemed to have snuck in. Old appliances and devices that I was holding onto out of sentimentality, and a bunch of other things were also either freecycled, donated or binned as appropriate. Now my cupboards are more organised and it's much easier to find what I'm looking for.

I am linking this post in with Fig Jam and Lime Cordial's monthly In My Kitchen event. Go have a peek through other kitchens around the globe!

What's in your kitchen this month?