The Church-Plate Sweet Relish Deviled Eggs
Front Porch Gatherings & Holiday Spreads
The dimpled Tupperware tray holds twenty-four halves. The plastic lid snaps shut. The vessel always goes home empty from a Southern potluck. They call them "dressed" or "angel" eggs in the fellowship hall to keep the devil out of church. Crush the hard-boiled yolks with the back of a stainless fork, then fold in the sharp tang of Duke's mayonnaise and yellow mustard, and the defining crunch of Mt. Olive sweet pickle relish. Dust the whites with paprika, and keep the platter cold until the neighbors arrive.
Ingredients
- eggs6 large
- Duke's mayonnaise3 tbsp
- sweet pickle relish1 1/2 tbsp
- yellow mustard1 tsp
- pickle juice1 tsp
- saltto taste
- black pepperto taste
- sweet paprikato taste
Method
- 01
Boil the eggs.
Place the eggs in a single layer in a medium saucepan, cover with an inch of cold water, and bring to a rapid boil over high heat.
- 02
Remove from heat and let sit.
The moment the water reaches a rolling boil, turn off the heat entirely, cover tightly with a lid, and let the eggs sit undisturbed for exactly 12 minutes.
- 03
Transfer the eggs to an ice bath.
Immediately move the eggs into a bowl of ice water using a slotted spoon and let them chill for 5 minutes to halt the cooking and shrink the egg from the shell.
- 04
Peel and halve the eggs.
Gently tap and roll the eggs on the counter, peel under cold running water, and slice each in half lengthwise.
- 05
Mash the yolks into a fine powder.
Pop the yolks into a small bowl and use a standard dinner fork to mash them completely dry until no lumps remain.
- 06
Emulsify the filling.
Add the mayonnaise, yellow mustard, pickle juice, salt, and pepper to the yolks, stirring vigorously until completely smooth and creamy.
- 07
Fold in the sweet relish.
Gently stir in the relish last so it retains its defining crunch, then adjust seasoning to taste.
- 08
Fill the egg whites and garnish.
Pipe or spoon the filling back into the whites, finish with a light dusting of paprika, and serve immediately or chill.
Notes
Mayonnaise matters.
Duke's is the absolute gold standard for Southern authenticity due to its sugar-free, yolk-heavy profile; if unavailable, Hellmann's or Best Foods is your best supermarket fallback.
The piping trick.
For a clean, authentic church-plate presentation, scrape the filling into a zip-top bag, snip the corner, and pipe it neatly into the egg whites.
Shortcut the boil.
If you are incredibly short on time, most American supermarkets sell bags of pre-hard-boiled and peeled eggs in the deli section, cutting prep time down to five minutes.
From Cook Southern Food.