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A Filling for Patties

A cream filling for patties made with eggs, cream, salt, white pepper, and onion juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Henrietta Latham Dwight · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and white pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,312 recipes. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

A Filling for Patties

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Break two eggs in a bowl, then add a little salt and white pepper, a few drops of onion juice, and four tablespoonfuls of cream.

  2. Beat slightly.

  3. Turn into a buttered tin cup.

  4. Stand the tin cup in a saucepan with a little boiling water on the stove.

  5. Cover and cook until stiff, about three or four minutes.

  6. Remove from the fire and turn out of the cup.

Prepare and serve

  1. When ready to use, cut into half-inch slices and then into stars or any fancy shape preferred, or into dice.

  2. Make a cream sauce thicker than usual so it does not run through the pastry.

  3. Put the filling in the sauce, bring to the boiling point, and fill the patties just as they are to be served.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

135Calories
7 gProtein
11 gFat
2 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Henrietta Latham Dwight. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Egg + white peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,312 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  2. Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together42,166 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Cream + white peppertop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,439 recipes

Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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 when heated, giving the filling its firm, sliceable body.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, keeping the cooked filling soft and tender.

The step that matters

Cooking the egg mixture in the water bath. Egg proteins set firmly at moderate heat. Cooking gently in water and stopping once stiff keeps the custard smooth and prevents it from becoming rubbery or curdled.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, egg):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. White pepperthe original
  4. Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, 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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