by Allrecipes Staff

It isn’t Easter without a few colorful eggs, whether the hard-boiled or fruit-flavored gelatin variety.

Here are easy methods for preparing two very different types of eggs.

Hard-Cooked Eggs
Hard-cooked eggs come out perfectly with this four-step process:

1. Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
2. Bring water to a rolling boil; immediately turn off heat. (Don’t let the eggs continue to boil. Sulfur compounds in the yolk turn an ugly shade of green when eggs are exposed to high heat.)
3. Cover the pan; let eggs stand in the hot water for 14 minutes (small eggs) to 17 minutes (extra large eggs).
4. Drain eggs and cool in ice water. Refrigerate hard-boiled eggs for up to one week.

Gelatin Eggs
Although you can blow out the insides of fresh eggs, dry them, and fill them with flavored gelatin, special molds yield the best and safest results. Look for them in supermarkets or drugstores.

1. Clean molds and brush lightly with oil or spray very lightly with cooking spray.
2. Snap molds shut and place them in an empty egg carton with the fill holes facing up.