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Eggs in White Sauce

Baked eggs topped with grated cheese in a smooth white sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Eggs in White Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

Make the white sauce

  1. Melt one tablespoon butter in a frying pan.

  2. Stir in one tablespoon flour.

  3. Stir in a cup of sweet milk, stirring gradually until it makes a smooth paste.

  4. Let the sauce come to a boil.

Bake and serve

  1. Break the eggs in a shallow earthenware plate that has been buttered.

  2. Pour the sauce over the eggs.

  3. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top.

  4. Bake in a moderate oven for fifteen minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

897Calories
34 gProtein
35 gFat
108 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Saucenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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. See the original page.

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

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

  2. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour 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 into a soft, custard-like layer as they bake under the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth white sauce.
Sweet milk
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it body and richness.
Grated cheese
Melts over the top and browns, adding flavor and a golden crust.
Butter
Adds fat and flavor to the roux that starts the sauce.

The step that matters

Stirring the flour and milk into a smooth paste. Adding milk gradually while stirring keeps flour from clumping, so the sauce becomes smooth instead of lumpy. Bringing it to a boil then fully cooks the flour, which thickens the sauce.

“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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