Sorry for neglecting my blog and for all the non food related posts recently. I had some stuffed stuff projects right before PAX, and also I’ve been working on some freelance stuff which took priority. I’m so excited about this project and spent a large amount of time trying to get it right. The project is still in the early stages. I can’t write about it or post pictures yet, but hopefully I can show everyone some awesome stuff in the future.

Anyway, my favorite people, the Behemoth, did an awesome contest again. It was too late for me to send my submission but I’m going to post them on my blog and how-to’s anyway. The contest was to draw / make an egg whose theme was their new game BattleBlock Theater (hopefully coming out soon!) I’m not good at drawing, so I decided to dress up hard boiled eggs.

Hatty!

This is one of the heads from BattleBlock Theater.

Round animal looking one!

Cute square head!

>_<

Yes, they are all hard boiled eggs!
I guess I could’ve made many more different characters with these four eggs but I got hungry…
I have a how-to of these eggs (and then some) ready, but I’m going to post them separately so they’re nicely organized.

I had so much fun making eggs for the Behemoth’s contest so I thought I’d do a how -to so you too can make oddly shaped hard boiled eggs on your own!
What do they taste like? You should make one and find out by yourself.

From the left (clock-wise): Pyramid, sphere, square, and cuboid.

[How to make a cube shaped & pyramid shaped hard boiled egg]
- Eggs (the measurements for the mold is for LARGE egg)
- Milk carton or any juice carton (cut open, washed well and dried)
- Stapler (I’ve tried using different kind of tapes but almost all tapes were useless against moisture so save yourself the trouble and use a stapler.)
- Scissors
- Rubber bands
- Paper towel
- Plastic wrap (for a pyramid shaped egg)

Step 1: Make a mold!
Cube: Cut a milk carton like the photo below. Make sure you have tabs (the pink part in the photo) to use to staple the box together. For a cube, cut three extra square pieces that are slightly smaller than the squares on the box (so they’ll fit inside the box). The pieces are used to cover the staples on the inside of the box.)

Cube

You don't need to staple the bottom part. The rubber band will do the job.

Cover the stapled sides with the smaller square pieces.

Pyramid: Cut a milk carton like in the photo below. Make sure you have the tab (the pink part in the photo) in order to staple the box together. Cut two extra triangle pieces that are slightly smaller than the triangle on the box. These will be used to cover the staples inside.

Pyramid

I only used one staple to put together the pyramid box.

Step 2: Make hard boiled eggs! Plunge them into cold water. (It makes it easier to peel.)
A bit off topic, but someone emailed me asking how to get rid of the stinky egg smell from a hard boiled egg. The smell comes from the reaction of iron in the egg yolk and sulfur in the egg white when the egg is heated inside the egg shell and the smell gets stronger as the reaction goes on longer. So if you cook the egg  just right, your hard boiled egg doesn’t smell! How do you know when you over cook your egg? If the yolk is green-gray-ish on the outside, that means you over-cooked it. There are many websites to help you make the perfect hard boiled egg so try them and find the right method for you. 

Step 3: Peel the egg carefully and put an egg in the mold. Place the extra carton piece on top of the egg and push the egg in slowly.
Cube & Pyramid: If the carton piece can be pushed down lower than the edges of the box, put a folded paper towel on the top of the carton piece and put rubber bands around it.

Make sure you push the egg in until you can't push in any further.

Pyramid: The mold for a pyramid egg was just the right size, but because of its shape it was hard to put rubber bands around to secure the top. So I wrapped the mold with plastic wrap, put paper towels on the top (so the rubber bands wouldn’t make indentations on the egg.)

Slowly push the top down...

Pyramid: It doesn't look like it's supposed to be in the fridge, does it? It might be better to let your family know what you're doing.

Step 4: Put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes or so and slowly take the egg out.

Cube-ish

Pyramid-ish

This how-to is basically “make a mold and squeeze a hard boiled egg in” and not much else to it. The hardest part was to figure out the right size for the mold for a large egg. I tried a couple of different measurements and finally found the right size.  The first cube mold I made was too small and that’s how the cuboid shaped egg was made.

I know that some company sells a device to make an egg into a cube, so if you aren’t crafty but still want to make a cube shaped hard boiled egg, Google “Egg Cuber.”

I made Hatty from BattleBlock Theater using a cube mold.

[How to make a spherical  hard boiled egg]
- Hard boiled egg

I wasn’t going to do a how-to for this, but my boyfriend was amazed at how round one of the eggs was and asked me how I did it. All you have to do is put the index finger on the top of the egg, and the thumb on the bottom of the egg and squeeze for at least ten seconds. It pretty much stays like that even after you let go with your fingers.

My boyfriend said it looked like a turtle egg.

I’m not sure what you can do with these molded eggs to be honest, other than… purely for fun!

I’m sure you’ve seen them in various bento sites, but I also have Japanese egg molds. I got them out of curiosity a long time ago. I just wanted to see a molded hard-boiled egg. It’s amazing how flexible hard boiled eggs are.

Cute, aren't they? Too bad I rarely use them.

I have another how-to for an easy egg molding trick ready, but I’m going to post it separately so they’re nicely organized, so check back often!

In my previous post, I did a how to make cube shaped & pyramid shaped hard boiled eggs. (see “how to mold a hard boiled egg”)It was a lot of fun making the molds, but some of you must be thinking “Yeah, but that’s a lot of work to make a mold for a hard boiled egg…” and I completely agree. I’m just a nut. So I’ll show you a very easy & popular method to mold a hard boiled egg in Japan.

[How to make a <3 shaped hard boiled egg]
- Egg
- Milk carton or any juice carton (cut open, washed well and dried)
- Chopstick (round one is ideal)
- Rubber bands

Step 1: Cut milk carton and fold it in half lengthwise.

This is all you need. (besides an egg) The milk carton is about 3" X 8".

Step 2: Make a hard boiled egg.

Step 3: While the egg is still warm, peel the egg and put the egg on the milk carton, place a chopstick on the center of the egg, and put rubber bands on the both ends.

If you don't have a round chopstick maybe you can put a skewer inside a straw and use it. (If you use a disposable chopstick, the middle part of the heart will probably look funky.)

Make sure the egg is freshly boiled and warm. Otherwise the egg might break from the pressure.

It's hard to see but you want the chopstick to dig into the egg.

Step 4: Leave it for about 10 minutes. (Keep the egg in the fridge if it’s summer time.)

Step 5: Take the chopstick off and cut the egg in half.

Hard boiled eggs are so soft, smooth and easily modified.

It's cute as is.

But the heart shaped yolk makes it even more adorable! Also every pair is very unique, so no other pair is like it! Kind of romantic, isn't it?

You can put them in the bento just as they are.

Or you can cut the bottom of the egg to make them stand.

This is great for beginners of both kyaraben makers and eaters. It doesn’t require any special technique or ingredients. Also I think it can be awesome finger food at a party. You don’t need a special mold so you can make a lot of them at the same time. Put seasoning on the top like salt, egg, ketchup, anything to dress them up or you can make deviled eggs with them.  It’s easy, and a delicious way to tell someone how much you <3 them.