These Bright, Herby Deviled Eggs Are Designed for Spring

When I imagine the colors of spring, I think of yellows and pinks, grassy greens and pastel blues. Or maybe those are the colors of Easter—or...has Peeps marketing fully conquered my brain? Well, whatever the origin of my associations, the result when transmogrified to deviled-egg form are the little snacks you see here: fragrant cups of egg white filled with a light and bright yolky mixture that's folded with both mayonnaise and crème fraîche, minced tarragon, quick-pickled red onion, Dijon, and lemon juice. Suffice it to say, if you're doing a casting call for vernal deviled eggs, these both look and taste the part.

Deviled eggs are a fairly straightforward food, which means I don't have a ton to say about these, except to offer the following tips:

• Try to find eggs that are not too fresh. The freshest eggs tend to stick to the shell after boiling, making peeling a pain and often resulting in pitted and scarred whites. It's better to use eggs that are a bit older—still good, edible eggs, of course—but not straight from the hen's cloaca (wow, both graphic and safe for work! I impress myself sometimes).
• Get a jump start on your pickled onions. I love what I call rapid pickling, in which onions are submerged briefly in vinegar and left to sit just long enough to soften their texture, tame their raw-onion bite, and give them a bright acidic pop. When you use red onions and red wine vinegar, they turn an amazing shade of magenta, which is especially apt for a spring-themed egg. I recommend getting them started first (here the onion is minced instead of thinly sliced, but otherwise it's exactly the same as the recipe linked in the ingredient list). By the time you've boiled your eggs, the onion should be more or less ready. If you can let them sit a little longer, even better.
• Feel free to just use mayo. I call for a combination of crème fraîche and mayonnaise for the yolky filling, which produces a particularly light and bright result that fits the theme well. But if you have everything you need to make these except the crème fraîche, please go ahead and just use all mayo instead; they'll still be good. You may need to up the lemon juice slightly for a touch of acidity if you do, but otherwise it'll be fine. (To that end, you can also use different herbs—dill or parsley are both good stand-ins for the tarragon, obviously with very different flavors, but none of them will be bad.)

In a large bowl, set up an ice bath by partially filling it with a combination of cold water and ice; set aside. Fill a medium pot with water and bring to a boil. Carefully lower eggs into pot and continue to boil for 30 seconds. Cover tightly, reduce heat to low (water should maintain a bare simmer), and continue cooking for 11 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, immediately transfer eggs to prepared ice bath and let cool, about 3 minutes. Peel eggs under cool running water, then slice each egg in half lengthwise.

Transfer yolks to a medium bowl. Add mayonnaise, crème fraîche, pickled onion, lemon juice, Dijon, tarragon, and cayenne. Using a fork or sturdy whisk, mash and stir together until thoroughly combined. Season with salt.

Transfer yolk filling to zipper-lock bag or piping bag. Cut off corner of zipper-lock bag or piping bag and pipe filling mixture into egg white halves, overstuffing each hole. Garnish deviled eggs with more minced pickled onion and small tarragon leaves. Serve.

Special Equipment

Slotted spoon, zipper-lock bag or piping bag

Notes

Very fresh eggs tend to have their shells stick to the whites more, making peeling more difficult. Eggs that are slightly older are best for hard boiling.

If desired, you can substitute the crème fraîche in the recipe with additional mayonnaise; you may need to add a touch more lemon juice to balance the flavor.