Chef Klaus
Bayerischer Wurstsalat
The Bavarian beer-garden salad that lives by the cut: thin sausage strips, raw onion, vinegar and oil, no cheese, rested long enough to taste like supper.
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Gefüllte Eier bayerischer Art
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The Bavarian stuffed egg belongs on the Brotzeit board: firm whites, a buttery Bergkaese yolk filling, chives, mustard, and a radish slice for snap.
Appetizers & Snacks
German
Picnic
Potluck
Make Ahead
25 min
Active Time
10 min cook•1 hr 5 min total
Yield12 stuffed egg halves
Gefüllte Eier bayerischer Art sit on the cold table: Brotzeit, the bread-and-snack meal, picnics, parish potlucks, and the Sunday spread before anyone starts pretending they only came for one. In Bavaria I make them with butter, Bergkäse, chives, mustard, and radish. In the north they lean sharper with fish, pickle, or more mayonnaise; in the Rhineland you may see remoulade. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders.
The egg decides the dish before the filling does. Start the eggs in cold water, bring them up gently, then cool them hard in cold water, because a shocked egg stops cooking and peels cleanly. Let them sit hot and the yolk rims green, the white turns rubbery, and you've made punishment in an eggshell.
The filling has one rule: mash the yolks while they're still fine and dry, then work in soft butter before the wetter things. Butter coats the yolk and carries the Bergkäse, so the filling tastes round without turning loose. Mayonnaise alone makes it slack. Nicht aus dem Glas is for sauce, but the point holds: don't let a packet or a bottle do the cook's work.
Pipe it if you like, spoon it if you don't. Finish with chives and thin radish, because the bite needs green and peppery red against the pale egg. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Stuffed eggs entered German household cooking through the cold supper and buffet tradition of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when boiled eggs, butter, mustard, herbs, and cheese were practical larder foods for a table set ahead of time. The Bavarian version fits the Brotzeit culture of inns, farms, and beer gardens, where bread, cheese, radishes, cold meats, and eggs could make a meal without lighting the stove. Its regional mark is not excess, but the Alpine dairy note: butter and Bergkäse give the filling its Bavarian direction while radish ties it back to the beer-garden table.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
large eggs
Quantity
6
unsalted butter
Quantity
35g
softened
Bergkäse
Quantity
45g
finely grated
Bavarian sweet mustard or medium German mustard
Quantity
2 teaspoons
apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
Quantity
1 teaspoon
sour cream
Quantity
1 tablespoon
chives
Quantity
2 tablespoons, plus more
finely snipped
radishes
Quantity
1 small bunch
very thinly sliced
fine salt
Quantity
to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
to taste
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| large eggs | 6 |
| unsalted buttersoftened | 35g |
| Bergkäsefinely grated | 45g |
| Bavarian sweet mustard or medium German mustard | 2 teaspoons |
| apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar | 1 teaspoon |
| sour cream | 1 tablespoon |
| chivesfinely snipped | 2 tablespoons, plus more |
| radishesvery thinly sliced | 1 small bunch |
| fine salt | to taste |
| freshly ground black pepper | to taste |
Equipment Needed
- •Medium saucepan with lid
- •Fine grater
- •Fork or fine sieve
- •Piping bag with star tip, optional
Instructions
- 1
Cook the eggs
Set the eggs in a single layer in a saucepan and cover them with cold water by 2cm. Bring the water just to a boil, cover the pan, take it off the heat, and leave the eggs 10 minutes. The gentle climb keeps the whites tender, while the covered rest sets the yolks without beating them grey.
- 2
Cool and peel
Move the eggs straight into a bowl of very cold water and leave them 10 minutes. Cold stops the cooking and firms the white against the shell, so the peel comes away clean instead of tearing the egg. Tap all over, peel under a thin trickle of water, and dry them well.
Use eggs that are a week old if you can. Very fresh eggs cling to the shell, and no amount of confidence fixes a torn white on a stuffed egg plate. - 3
Make the filling
Halve the eggs lengthwise and push the yolks through a sieve or mash them very fine with a fork. Work in the soft butter first, because fat coats the dry yolk and keeps the filling smooth before the mustard and sour cream loosen it. Stir in the Bergkäse, mustard, vinegar, sour cream, chives, salt, and pepper. Taste it now. Würzen, Fett, Salz zum Schluss.
- 4
Fill the whites
Spoon or pipe the filling back into the egg whites, mounding it neatly but not fussing over it. If it feels stiff, stir in half a teaspoon of sour cream; if it feels loose, add a little more grated Bergkäse. The filling should hold a ridge, because a stuffed egg that slumps on the board has already lost the argument.
- 5
Finish cold
Top each egg half with a thin radish slice, more chives, and a small grind of black pepper. Chill at least 20 minutes before serving, because the butter firms and the filling sits properly in the white. Serve cold on a Brotzeit board with rye bread, cucumber, and a small dish of mustard.
Chef Tips
- •Grate the Bergkäse fine. A coarse shred fights the piping bag and gives you lumps where you want a clean, savory filling.
- •Do not overcook the eggs. The green ring around a yolk is sulphur and heat doing what they do when nobody is watching the clock.
- •If you make them for a picnic, carry the radish slices separately and put them on at the last minute. Radish left too long on salt and filling weeps water.
- •Serve with rye bread or Laugengebäck, lye rolls or pretzel bread, and a pale lager or Helles in a proper glass. Das ist kein Bierzelt, it's lunch.
Advance Preparation
- •Boil and peel the eggs up to 1 day ahead; keep them covered in the refrigerator so the whites do not dry out.
- •Make the filling up to 1 day ahead and store it separately. Fill the whites the day you serve, then chill 20 to 60 minutes so the butter sets.
- •Assembled eggs keep well for 6 hours in the refrigerator. Add radish just before serving if the plate has to travel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 43g)
Calories
80 calories
Total Fat
7 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
3 g
Cholesterol
105 mg
Sodium
150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
1 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
1 g
Protein
4 g
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