Skip to main content
Main

Asparagus Loaf

A chilled asparagus loaf made with eggs, gelatin, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Pepper and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Asparagus Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Heat the butter in a double boiler.

  2. Strain the flour mixed with water into the butter, stirring continuously until thick.

  3. Beat the eggs well.

  4. Pour the flour mixture over the eggs, stirring constantly.

  5. Return the mixture to the double boiler and cook until the eggs are done, stirring until ready to remove from heat.

  6. Add the dissolved gelatin, seasonings, and lemon juice.

  7. Once cool, fold in the whipped cream.

Assemble and chill

  1. Line a pan with asparagus tips and pour the mixture over them, adding a layer of asparagus on top.

  2. Chill in the refrigerator until congealed.

Serve

  1. Serve with whipped cream mayonnaise mixed with a little lemon juice.

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. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Asparagus + lemontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together704 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + asparagustop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Cook and set with heat to give the loaf its body and structure.
Butter
Enriches the base and adds richness and flavour to the custard.
Flour
Thickens the butter and water mixture so the base holds together.
Gelatin
Sets the mixture as it chills so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Whipped cream
Adds lightness and a soft, creamy texture to the set loaf.
Asparagus
Provides the main flavour and the green layers visible in the loaf.

The step that matters

Cooking the eggs in the double boiler. Eggs can scramble if overheated. Gentle, constant stirring over simmering water cooks them evenly into a smooth custard that will set properly.

Swap the asparagus

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, pepper, egg, gelatin, lemon, cream):

  1. Asparagusthe original
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Arrowrootfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, pepper, egg, gelatin, lemon, cream. 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.

You might also like

Lemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesAsparagus SoupAsparagus Soup179 recipesAsparagus SaladAsparagus Salad77 recipesCream of AsparagusCream of Asparagus38 recipes