Cloud Eggs (Eggs in clouds)

Clouds eggs (aka. eggs in clouds) are an impossibly light twist on baked eggs for breakfast. This is the breakfast or brunch recipe you make on days you’re looking to really put out an impressive, gourmet-style spread.

this recipe

Delicate, and easy to make, these eggs became a media darling a few years ago, but the truth, as with many trendy recipes, is that cloud eggs have been around for a very long time. They were re-popularised a few years ago after being featured on the Rachel Ray Show, and have held a spot in Instagram’s hall of fame ever since!

What are cloud eggs?

Cloud eggs are the product of whipping egg whites into meringues, baking them, plopping the yolks into the middle and baking once again. They get their name from their cloud-like appearance (with the yolk presumably representing the sun), and beyond fluffy texture.

When made without any additional seasoning or ingredients, a common complaint has been that the flavour can be plain (hence the addition of shredded parmesan cheese in this recipe), though there is a small but devoted army of cloud egg purists (…don’t look at me, bestie. I didn’t realise this was a thing either.), who defend the delicate taste of egg white meringue, especially if they’re adding flavours through side dishes.

What you prefer is totally up to you.

Eggs in clouds…in 1951?

In 1951, a French cookbook released the recipe for oeufs à la neige (French for “eggs in snow”). You can take a look at the recipe here, though it was cooked a little different, the final product was essentially a slightly sweeter version of cloud eggs as we know it today. And what does that mean? It means that the recipe is over 400 years old. It’s a classic with a new catchy name.

It bears mentioning that nowadays eggs in snow is more commonly known as a meringue and custard dessert.

You can read more about it in this excellent article from NPR.

How to season cloud eggs

With no seasoning at all, cloud eggs still do have a very subtle flavour however this flavour may not be for everyone. I personally don’t mind it (but also don’t love it), but I’ve heard of people having pretty strong reactions to it.

In order to avoid this, we season our eggs (salt and pepper to taste, always!). In the case of this recipe, we’re going to use parmesan cheese to add a little extra flavour too. Here are a few other ideas to experiment with:

• Use a seasoning mix like Herbes de Provence or Italian seasoning.
• Go Mexican by folding in a little shredded cheddar, and using some warmed salsa as a sauce.
• If you’re feeling really creative, turn it into a benedict by swapping out the bread for a toasted crumpet, and drizzling on a little hollandaise.

Who are My Food Nation?

Nat and Tony are a Toronto-based husband and wife team of food lovers and digital content creators. If you’re in Toronto, you may have heard of them, but in case you haven’t, check them out on Instagram @myfoodnation.

They very kindly allowed me to use their lovely photos of cloud eggs (yes, the ones you’re looking at in this post!) after I happened to casually mention to them that my last set of photos for eggs in clouds just looked terrible (the eggs themselves were fine…but the lighting that day was awful).

Thank you My Food Nation! You are awesome.  

More breakfast recipes

Here are a few more creative egg breakfasts for you to check out:

• Scrambled egg breakfast sandwich
• Cheesy oeufs en cocotte
• Cilbir (Turkish eggs in yogurt)
• Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon
• Shakshuka (eggs in a spicy tomato sauce)

Helpful Tools

The link below is an affiliate link. This means that if you choose to purchase using them, I will receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. And that would be so very lovely of you. Thank you.

If you’re baking regularly, a baking mat is really quite useful. They’re great to bake with (obvi), easy to clean (bonus), and actually look pretty good too (double bonus!).

Okay, bestie. How are we feeling about cloud eggs (…or do you prefer eggs in snow?)? Have you tried them? Tell me what you think.

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