Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Creamed Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the eggs
Beat the eggs in a bowl.
Add the milk, pepper, and salt, then strain the mixture.
Butter some plain dariole moulds and fill them with the egg mixture.
Steam and serve
Steam the moulds until the mixture is set.
Turn the set eggs onto a dish and pour the brown gravy around them.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Set into a firm, custard-like body when gently heated, giving the dish its structure.
- New milk
- Adds moisture and softness, so the set eggs stay tender rather than rubbery.
- Brown gravy
- Adds savoury flavour and moisture around the set eggs on the plate.
The step that matters
Steam the moulds until the mixture is set. Egg proteins set at moderate heat, and overheating makes them curdle and turn watery and rubbery. Steam gently and stop as soon as the centre is firm.
“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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