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Ham Canapes

Ham canapes are fried bread rounds topped with a creamy ham spread and Parmesan cheese, then baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,536 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Ham Canapes

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the bread

  1. Cut the bread into ¼ inch thick slices and use a French cutter to make circles.

  2. Fry the bread in hot deep fat until golden brown.

Make the ham topping

  1. Pound the ham to a paste, adding cream as needed to achieve a smooth consistency.

  2. Season the mixture with paprika or cayenne pepper if preferred.

Assemble and brown

  1. Spread the ham mixture on the fried bread, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, and brown in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).

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. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Parmesan cheese + breadtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together577 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Ham + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together144 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  4. Parmesan cheese + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Ham + creamtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Boiled ham
Forms the main savoury filling, pounded into a paste that spreads over the bread.
Cream
Adds moisture so the pounded ham becomes smooth and spreadable.
Parmesan cheese
Melts and browns on top in the oven, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.
Bread
Provides a crisp fried base that holds the topping.

The step that matters

Frying the bread until golden brown. Frying in hot fat dries and crisps the bread surface, so it stays firm under the moist ham topping instead of going soggy.

“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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