Egg puff: the flaky pastry with a spiced boiled egg

An egg puff is a baked snack made of flaky puff pastry wrapped around a boiled egg and a spiced onion and tomato masala. Egg puffs are a familiar sight in South Indian and Sri Lankan style bakeries, where they are sold warm in the afternoon with tea, and they are a close cousin of the patty and the curry puff.

What is an egg puff?

An egg puff is a puff pastry square or triangle holding half or a whole boiled egg, plus a seasoned masala of onion, chili, turmeric and sometimes tomato. It is baked until the layers of pastry rise, turn golden and become crisp.

The snack is especially associated with Kerala and Tamil Nadu bakeries, where it sits in the glass case next to other puffs, such as vegetable puff, chicken puff and paneer puff. It is also common in Sri Lanka and among South Asian communities in Canada. The pastry is the point: a good egg puff shatters into flakes when you bite it.

What goes into an egg puff?

An egg puff needs puff pastry, hard-boiled eggs and a savoury masala. The masala is fried onion with green chili, ginger, turmeric, chili powder, salt and often a little tomato, cooked until dry enough not to soak the pastry.

Some bakeries add a pinch of garam masala or black pepper to the masala. Others sprinkle a little chili on the cut egg before wrapping.

How is an egg puff made?

An egg puff is made by cooking the masala, boiling and halving the eggs, wrapping each egg in a rolled sheet of puff pastry, brushing with egg wash and baking in a hot oven. Using ready-made puff pastry makes the home version quick.

1. Boil the eggs for about 10 minutes, cool in cold water and peel.
2. Cook one finely sliced onion in oil with a green chili, a little ginger, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder and salt until soft and dry. Let it cool.
3. Roll thawed puff pastry to about 3 mm thick and cut into squares large enough to wrap an egg half.
4. Put a spoonful of masala in the centre, set the egg half cut side down on it and fold the pastry over to seal.
5. Press the edges with a fork, brush with beaten egg and cut one or two small slits in the top.
6. Bake at 200 °C (400 °F) for 20 to 25 minutes, until deep golden and risen.

Cool the masala fully before wrapping. Warm filling melts the fat in the pastry and the layers will not rise.

How is an egg puff different from a patty?

An egg puff uses laminated puff pastry and contains a whole boiled egg, while a Sri Lankan patty usually uses a shorter, firmer pastry and a minced meat or vegetable filling. They are related snacks but not the same product.

Because shops use different names, a puff in one bakery may be called a patty in another. Ask what the filling is.

What is the difference between an egg puff and a curry puff?

A curry puff is a pastry pocket filled with spiced potato, meat or vegetables, while an egg puff specifically contains a boiled egg. Curry puffs can be fried or baked and often use a crimped edge.

In Malaysia and Singapore the curry puff is a famous snack that sometimes has a piece of egg in it. In South India the term puff means the laminated pastry type, with a filling named in front of it, such as egg puff or chicken puff.

What other fillings are used in bakery puffs?

Bakery puffs use the same pastry with many fillings, and the filling is named in front of the word puff. Common ones are vegetable, chicken, paneer, mushroom and mutton puffs.

An egg puff is the simplest of these because the filling is just an egg and a spoon of masala. Vegetable puffs usually hold diced potato, carrot and peas in a spiced sauce, while chicken puffs hold shredded chicken in a thick onion gravy. Sri Lankan and South Indian bakeries often place several kinds in one tray, so the shapes help tell them apart: an egg puff is often a rectangle, a vegetable puff a triangle. This is a general pattern, not a rule, and each shop labels its own.

How do you serve and store egg puffs?

Egg puffs are best eaten warm on the day they are baked, with tea or coffee. The pastry softens as it sits, so reheating in the oven brings back the crispness.

• Serve warm, cut in half to show the egg.
• Add a spoon of tomato chutney or green chutney on the side.
• Store cooled puffs covered in the fridge for up to two days.
• Reheat in a 180 °C (350 °F) oven for 8 to 10 minutes, not in a microwave.
• Freeze unbaked puffs on a tray, then bake from frozen with extra minutes.

Why does the pastry sometimes turn soggy?

Soggy egg puff pastry comes from a wet filling, a pastry that is too warm or an oven that is not hot enough. Each of these stops the layers from separating and crisping.

• Cook the masala until it is dry, with no loose liquid.
• Chill the shaped puffs for 15 minutes before baking.
• Preheat the oven fully and bake on a hot tray.
• Pat the peeled eggs dry before wrapping.

Is egg puff on the Rouge Bakery menu?

Egg puff is not among the items that reviewers mention for Rouge Bakery in Scarborough, Ontario. Google Maps reviewers describe mutton rolls, patties, kothu roti, rotti, vada and a few other items, and no official menu was found, so it is not known whether an egg puff is sold.

A visitor who wants one should call the bakery on (416) 283-0005 to ask. No prices were found, and this independent guide cannot take orders. See the menu page for the items that have been recorded and the hours and location page for the address.

Common questions

Planning a visit? Start with Rouge Bakery: address, opening hours, menu and directions in one place.

This article is general information from an independent guide, not from Rouge Bakery itself. For the store’s current details see hours and location.