When my children were young they used to enjoy making Eggs in a Hole where a hole is cut out of a slice of toast and an egg is dropped into the hole. So when I saw a recipe in a hundred-year-old cookbook for Baked Eggs that looked similar to Eggs in a Hole, but with a twist, I had to give it a try. Instead of just cutting one circle in the toast, two circles are cut to create a ring of toast. The egg is then dropped into the ring. It gave an old classic a new twist -though that’s not quite right. Maybe I should say that I found an old twist for a classic recipe.
I enjoyed making this recipe, and anticipate making it again when children or grandchildren visit.
The old recipe says that the hole the egg is put into is created by removing a little of the center. I interpreted this to mean that a small circle should be cut out of the center of the toast.
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Baked Eggs (Eggs in a Hole)
For each egg:
1 slice toast
1 egg
butter
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon milk or cream (I used milk.)
Preheat oven to 350° F. Lightly grease an oven-proof skillet with butter. Cut a large round circle out of the toast. (I used an inverted champagne glass to cut the circle). Then cut a smaller circle out of the center of the circle. (I used a round cookie cutter to cut the small circle. A small inverted juice glass would also work.) Put the resulting toast ring in the skillet, then gently break the egg and put the contents in the hole. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dot with a few small pieces of butter. Spoon the milk over the egg. Put in oven and bake until the egg is cooked (about 10-15 minutes).
Sounds good and really easy.
It’s a nice, simple recipe. The thing that I found the most difficult was figuring out how to cut a large circle that used as much of my bread slice as possible. Then, I though about using an inverted champagne glass, and that worked well.
It is funny what you find to use. I wanted to make circles on a quilt and I went through my dishes to find the right sizes.
Love the circles! We called these man in the moon, some call it toad in the hole, not to be confused with the sausage dish of the same name. Whatever the name, everyone loved the little cut-out piece the best.
There are a lot of fun names for these eggs.
We always made it in a skillet on the stove top. And toasted the little bit of hole on the side to put on the egg like a hat? The only problem is you really needed another piece of toast to go along with it in our opinion.
This made me laugh! I was looking at the photo and thinking I would just make an egg and a piece of toast.
You’re being too practical. 🙂
I also have always made similar recipes using a skillet on the stove top – but I followed the directions in this old recipe, and it worked just fine to do it in the oven. It works to start with toast since the eggs are baked in a “moderate” oven. The toast doesn’t burn. As to needing another piece of toast to eat the egg. I agree. I actually saved the toast scraps when I made this recipe, and reheated them in my toaster oven. I then served my beautiful eggs with my not so beautiful scraps of toast.
We used to love this when our mum made it for us when we were children.
cheers
sherry
Parents have been making this fun recipe for their children for generations. 🙂
I would always make Eggs in a hole for my boys. I would use a heart-shaped cookie cutter. They LOVED it so much!
I love it! What a wonderful way to make these eggs.
Looks tasty except for my husband’s dislike of eggs on/with/in toast!
If your husband doesn’t like eggs with toast, this probably isn’t a recipe for you. 🙂