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Eggs in Cases

Eggs in cases are baked eggs wrapped in mushroom and breadcrumb mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Eggs in Cases

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the forcemeat

  1. Pound the mushrooms with butter until smooth.

  2. Mix in soaked bread crumbs, parsley, egg, pepper, and salt.

  3. Butter six small china cases.

Fill the cases

  1. Line the cases with the forcemeat, leaving a hollow in the center.

  2. Carefully slip an egg into each hollow.

  3. Sprinkle salt over the eggs.

  4. Pour melted butter over the eggs.

  5. Place the cases in a high-sided saucepan with hot water up to a third of their depth.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 8-10 minutes.

  2. Serve on a flat dish with a sauce or puree.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mushrooms
Adds earthy flavor and a moist, smooth body to the forcemeat lining.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and helps the forcemeat bind smoothly.
White bread crumbs
Soaked in milk, they bind the forcemeat and keep it tender rather than dense.
Egg
Sets during baking to hold the forcemeat together around the set egg.

The step that matters

Bake in a water bath. Placing the cases in hot water up to a third of their depth moderates the heat, so the egg sets gently without the forcemeat drying out or toughening.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, butter, bread, milk, egg, pepper):

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, butter, bread, milk, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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