Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Asparagus Mold
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cream sauce
Make a cream sauce by melting butter in a saucepan.
Stir in flour, salt, and pepper until smooth.
Gradually add cream and cook until boiling.
Set the custard
Remove from heat and stir in chicken or veal, asparagus, and beaten eggs. Mix well and pour into a mold.
Chill until set.
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.
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + asparagustop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,968 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Chicken + asparagustop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together539 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + asparagustop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together936 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set the custard as they cook and bind it into a sliceable, firm texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and cream into a smooth sauce that holds the custard together.
- Cream
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding richness and a smooth, soft texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavor to the sauce and helps the flour cook into a smooth roux.
- Chicken or veal
- Adds savory body and substance to the custard.
- Asparagus tips
- Provide the main vegetable flavor and tender bits throughout the set custard.
The step that matters
Stir the eggs in gently after the sauce has cooled slightly. Eggs set when heated, so adding them to a very hot sauce can scramble them. Stirring them in off the heat and mixing well keeps the custard smooth and evenly set once chilled.
Swap the asparagus
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, pepper, cream, chicken, egg):
- Potatofits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
- Asparagusthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, pepper, cream, chicken, egg. 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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