Meet the quick and easy œuf à la coque, literally “egg in shell.” You’ll also find them called “dippy egg & soldiers.” All you need is a fresh egg with some bread and butter. What a fun and wholesome way to eat eggs! Great as a side for dinner, a main breakfast fixing, or a savory snack, this simple preparation is a staple of French comfort food and lazy days. Let me show you how it’s done! Plus a flower-spiked butter to brighten your day.
Start with eggs
France is a country with a lot of farmland. — Seriously, we could have left a bit more wilderness! — As a result, French cuisine is chock-full of dairy and eggs, and countless methods to prepare them. Œuf à la coque is perhaps one of the simplest ways. That is, eggs in all their fiery glory with runny yolks and smooth & tender whites. All straight from the shell, hence the name.
Because this recipe is so straightforward, the quality and freshness of the eggs matter perhaps more than usual. I recommend finding ones from healthy, happy hens. These eggs will have a dark orange yolk, a solid shell, and a ton of subtle flavor and nutrients!
The next task is to briefly boil the eggs. The specific doneness bears the same name as the dish, “à la coque.” The white should be just-cooked and not “snotty.” The yolk, sheltered from heat in the center, should remain mostly runny and perfectly dippable. The trick? Good timing, or 3 to 5 minutes, and practice.
A special little piece of crockery
Each œuf à la coque is then nested on a pretty pedestal: un coquetier (egg cup or holder). My mother — who’s quite the odd collector — has long had an artful assortment of coquetiers. Part artifacts, part tools, these little objects with a specific purpose came in singular designs! Classic pottery ones with ornate glaze. Colorful plastic ones with saucers attached. Minimalist ones: a coiled wire or a molded sheet of metal. Figurative ones shaped like roosters. Eccentric ones with a tripod base, and so on.
Do coquetiers elevate the eating experience? I like to believe they do. But can they be replaced by something else? With a little lateral thinking, they sure can!
You can definitely find coquetiers here in the US, but I don’t actually own any. I use a shot glass instead. The size and shape are remarkably adequate! Ever wondered what to do with those countless shot glasses brought back from a trip by a friend? This is it! Use them to hold your next œuf à la coque.
Otherwise, a small jar or napkin ring could work well too. And you could even go the edible route and nest your egg upright in a small bread bun or roll, or even in a piece of roasted squash. I won’t judge.
Can’t go wrong with a side of bread
Now that we have a lovely egg, tenderly cooked, and secured in place on its tiny throne, all that’s left is to dig in. But how? By beheading it, naturally. You can bet there exists a specific little tool for this purpose. The version I’m familiar with is a ring with a row of metal teeth along the inner edge. To close the teeth on the shell, there is a pair of handles — much like those on scissors. This coupe-œuf works beautifully and yields a clean, mess-free cut. But once again, you can use what you have. Gently tap horizontally with a butter knife, then cut through the very top of the egg and remove it to expose the yolk. It’ll work just fine.
Look and behold — liquid gold! The best part of this dish is the digging in. Ice cream on a cone would be nothing without the licking, right? Eggs in shell would be nothing without their bread dippers. For this, I love a hearty sourdough bread, or what we call levain, because it’s so nutritious and savory. But what’s great is that any bread will do! Brioche or challah for ultimate decadence, sandwich slices or seeded bread — it’s all good.
Butter rounds out the edges
Now top that bread slice with a generous layer of butter. Since we’re not cooking the eggs in any fat here, we ought to add a little. Extra fattiness and flavor from the butter will really make the yolk shine and create a bridge between the starchiness of the bread and the richness of the egg.
Do you remember the first thing you learned to do in the kitchen as a kid? For me, I’m pretty sure it was cutting bread and buttering it… Once your bread is buttered, slice it to create sticks. You can also toast the bread if your want a sturdier “handle.” These bread dippers we call “mouillettes,” from mouillé (wet), because they’re about to get soaked! And who doesn’t like to play with food? Excavating that luscious yolk with butter-laden bread sticks is what this dish is all about.
When nothing is left to dip, you can easily finish eating the white with a small spoon.
All the more reason parents whip up œuf à la coque on meager days when they still want to make the kids happy. It’s also the perfect dish to prepare when you want to treat yourself but just feel too lazy to cook anything else.
Do make sure to use salted butter, or else add some sea salt to your toast — unless you’re on a special diet of course! Feel free to also top your toast with some paprika, black pepper, or any other flavoring you like. Otherwise, using flavoring straight in the butter, like the nasturtium compound butter I used here, is one great way to add bold flavor to an otherwise subtle dish.
Nasturtium butter, anyone?
I think we all need more flowers in our food, and this compound butter is one tasty step in that direction. Nasturtium flowers, or capucines in French, are originally from South America. They’re pretty easy to grow in sunny areas, add great color to a garden, and are much loved by bees. Cool thing is they’re edible too!
Common around the Mediterranean, they also grow well in many places throughout the US and it’s on a farm here that I learned this culinary trick. Nasturtium flowers are a little peppery, a little spicy, and just a bit floral. It’s easy to see how their flavor profile complements that of butter. If you don’t have access to them, you could try using your favorite edible flowers instead.
What to serve with eggs-in-shells?
A classic French way to serve these would be next to a bowl of warm soup — since you’re already having bread, it’s perfect! As a snack with some pickles would not be bad. Or in the morning with fresh fruit and yogurt, or even alongside a cucumber salad, yum.
Bon appétit!
Have you made this recipe? Do you have any questions? Feel free to rate the recipe and leave a comment below!
Eggs in shells & floral butter — Œuf à la coque et beurre de fleur
Equipment
- egg holder, shot glass, very small jar, etc
- small pot
Ingredients
Nasturtium flower compound butter – optional
- 2 fresh nasturtium flowers – or more, to taste
- 1 tbsp grass-fed salted butter – or add sea salt
Egg in shell & bread dippers
- 1 fresh pasture-raised egg
- 2 slices bread of choice – I used whole wheat sourdough
- nasturtium butter – to taste
Instructions
Optional – Make the nasturtium compound butter
- Pick some fresh nasturtium flowers and let them sit out to give the bugs a chance to escape. If you don’t know where to find any nasturtium flowers, you could use more common rosemary flowers or even chive blossoms! Just make sure you know what they are!
- Take some butter out of the fridge and leave at room temperature until softened. Chop your flowers finely and add them to the softened butter. About 2 flowers per tablespoon or to taste. If your butter is unsalted, make sure to add some salt to taste.
- Mix well, taste and adjust seasonings if needed, then use immediately or refrigerate in an airtight container or its original wrapper up to a week (or freeze and use within 6 months).I used about 2 flowers for every tbsp of butter and found this was a good balance of flavor and not overpowered by the nasturtium — they are quite peppery! Add more to taste.
Boil the egg
- Find yourself some fresh eggs. Farmer friends, farm stands, or farmers markets are great ways to find eggs full of flavor and vigor. Grocery stores often carry good eggs too. Pasture-raised hens will produce the best eggs, but perhaps more importantly here is the freshness. Put your egg in a cup of water and see where it hangs. If it falls to the bottom, it’s full of vitality and will work beautifully, if it floats to the top, you may not want to eat it, and if it hovers somewhere in the middle, save it for a different recipe.Take your eggs out of the cold and let them come to room temperature. This way the shell is less likely to crack due to temperature shock and the cooking will be more controlled.
- Take your smallest cooking pot (or big enough to accommodate all of the eggs you’re planning to cook). Fill with water a few inches deep. And bring to a boil.Gently lower your eggs in the water and start a timer for 3 minutes. You can go anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes. If your eggs are big, or if you like the yolk not completely runny, add more time.
- When the eggs are done, place each in an egg holder, pointy side down (it fits better), and tap the top of the shell horizontally with a knife to remove a little hat. Remove any remaining bits of shell by hand. Set upright in an egg holder of choice. Your egg is ready for dipping!
Prepare the mouillettes (dippers, soldiers)
- Toast your bread if you like. Top it with a generous layer of butter, making sure to add some salt if using unsalted butter, or any additional seasoning you like.
- Slice the bread neatly so each bread stick can fit into the opening of the egg.
- Serve on a plate or cutting board. A small spoon is helpful for scraping the remaining white after all the yolk has been dug out.Bon appétit!