The Best Simple But Fancy Way to Make Eggs, According to a 5th Generation Chicken Keeper

Eggs are getting a lot of attention these days. For a while, those cartons might as well have contained diamonds, but luckily, the prices are headed in the right direction just in time for Easter and other spring celebrations. Anytime is a good time for eggs, but this time of year is high season for this essential ingredient.

Here at Parade , we love eggs and are always looking for fun new ways to cook and serve them. And when we need inspiration, we know just who to call: Lisa Steele, a 5th-generation chicken keeper, founder of the Fresh Eggs Daily blog, author of  The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook , and host of "Welcome to My Farm" on CreateTV and American Public Television. Steele has helped us dial in our deviled egg game and avoid the dreaded green ring in hard-boiled eggs , so quizzing her about her favorite springtime egg dishes was a no-brainer.

When we chatted, she mentioned bread pudding (and reminded us that it's a great thing to make year-round) and how she's a big fan of frittatas (way easier than quiche because you don't have to mess with pie crust), but thanks to an image of these delicious-looking Lemony Cream Baked Eggs and Asparagus from her Coop to Kitchen blog , we got on the topic of baked eggs, an underrated (and very easy) way to make eggs feel fancy.

Baked eggs are a great hands-off dish because they can be doing their thing in the oven while you're prepping other dishes or maybe even visiting with your guests. (What a concept!) Here are her top tips for making the best tender, creamy, never-ever rubbery baked eggs.

Related: The Absolute Best Way to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

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The Best Baked Egg Tips, According to a Fifth-Generation Chicken Keeper

Baked eggs are a great back-pocket recipe to have for an easy but elegant breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. Steele's advice will help you get them right every time.

1. Cream is the key

For soft, perfectly cooked baked eggs, you've need to give them a warm, rich bath in heavy cream. You don't need a ton, but you do need some cream to protect the tender eggs.

"Just drizzle a little cream in the bottom of a skillet or a casserole dish, and then add your eggs," says Steele. "As the eggs bake, the cream sort of caramelizes, and it makes the whites really super smooth and soft."

2. Select your size

Baked eggs are often cooked individually in small ramekins. That cooking style makes for a simple and elegant presentation, but you can also make a bigger batch of baked eggs. The Lemony Cream Eggs pictured above are a great example of that.

Steele told us that the recipe was made in a baking dish that's about four by eight inches. For that size pan, you'll pour 1/4 cup of cream in the pan, top with a few asparagus stalks, crack four eggs on top, then top with lemon zest, salt and pepper. Bake at 375° until the cream is thick and bubbly, the egg whites are set and the yolks are still runny (if you like them that way). This should take about 15 minutes. If you're having more guests, you can use a larger pan and just increase the ingredients as needed.

3. Baby your eggs

The warm cream in the dish helps gently cook the eggs, but it's a good idea to double up on the gentle cooking by also adding some steam to the oven. An oven full of moist heat is a great way to make sure the dish is cooked perfectly. You could put your baking dish (or dishes) in a larger pan of hot water to cook, but that can get tricky, especially if you're cooking in ramekins.

Steele's solution? Separate the steam from the eggs. "What I like to do is put the ramekins on a baking sheet on the top or middle rack and then partially fill another small pan with water and place it on the rack below," she says. "That way the dishes aren't sitting in the water, but they're still in a steamy environment." Genius!

4. Don't forget the toast

Those perfect runny yolks and the caramelized cream were made for toast. If you're baking the eggs in a larger pan, you can scoop up one portion and serve it on a large piece of toasted sourdough for a fun, cafe-like presentation. If you're serving baked eggs in ramekins, you can serve your favorite toast alongside. Bonus points if you make toast soldiers, which are just strips of toast that are the perfect size for dunking.

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