This 2-Ingredient Egg Cloud Is 'Egg-ceptional'

Eggs and chives—that’s all you need whip up eggs in clouds that’s as easy as an omelet but as impressive as a soufflé. (Salt and pepper are freebies in our book.) The idea is to beat egg whites into an airy, cloud-like consistency and form little nests to hold the yolks. Simple, right? It’s possible that you might be daunted by the idea of making egg clouds for a crowd, but once you master our technique for separating eggs like a boss, the sky’s the limit. If you don’t feel like breaking a sweat whisking all those egg whites, you can just throw them in the bowl of a stand mixer and use the whisk attachment to whip up stiff peaks. Feel free to fold in your favorite ingredients—bacon, cheese, jalapeños, whatever. Then, spoon the mounds of egg whites onto a baking sheet, place the yolk in the center of the fluffy nest, and bake. In just a few minutes, you’ll be on cloud nine.

2-Ingredient Egg Clouds

Yields: 2 servings

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Hands-On Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

2 eggs 

2 tablespoons chopped chive

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F. 

Separate the eggs, place the egg whites in a large bowl, and whisk vigorously until stiff peaks form. Fold in chopped chives, or add-in of your choice.

On a lightly greased baking sheet, spoon the whites into 2 equal mounds with a well in the center of each. Carefully place a yolk in the center of each hole and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake for 5 minutes, or until yolk is set and whites are just golden brown.

Right when you thought every method of cooking an egg had been invented (and argued about)—hell, we have 74 recipes for them. Still, though, people are just discovering new ways to prepare the kitchen staple, the latest being something with the whimsical name of "cloud eggs." Sorry, scrambled, soft-boiled, poached, and beet-pickled eggs, but you'll need to step aside for a moment.

On Instagram, the hashtag #cloudeggs suddenly has several hundred posts, even though cloud egg tutorial videos have been floating around on YouTube for at least four or five years. In a video eHow UK shared back in December 2012, making cloud eggs seems pretty simple—similar to our omelet soufflé, now that we think of it. First, separate egg yolks from their whites. Then, vigorously beat the egg whites until they're stiff like you're making meringue. As you continue to mix, add a little salt, pepper, and grated cheese. Spread the fluffy white mixture onto a slice of bread (or just straight onto a pan), leaving a crevice in the center, and then fill that with the yolk. Bake it in the oven at 320 degrees Fahrenheit for just five minutes, and enjoy.

Based on Instagram posts, at-home chefs have not only been embracing the new egg form, but also doctoring it up. Some bake their yolks thoroughly, while others add the yolks later in the baking process, leaving them a little runny. Some add seeds or spices on top, some serve with breakfast sausage, and some jazz up lunch by throwing a cloud egg on top of their unexciting meal like you would a fried egg. In fact, Bara Meyn, a restaurant in Cardiff, Wales, now offers cloud eggs with guacamole. The restaurant's Instagram shared an image explaining that it is new to the children's menu. The key word in that sentence being children.

All Access Sporting News