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Egg Nests

A baked dish of beaten egg whites and yolks on buttered toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Egg Nests

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, placing the whites on a large plate and keeping the yolks in their half shells.

  2. Add salt to the egg whites and beat them to stiff peaks.

  3. Toast the bread, dip the edges in hot water, spread with butter, and place in a baking pan.

  4. Optionally, spread a spoonful of chopped ham on each slice of toast before adding the egg whites.

Assemble and bake

  1. Heap the beaten egg whites on the toast, creating a depression in the center of each mound.

  2. Add ¼ teaspoon of butter and one yolk to each depression.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until the egg whites are lightly browned.

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. Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  2. Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whites beaten to stiff peaks form the airy structure, and the yolks provide richness and a set centre.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the toast and browns gently in the oven.
Toast
Gives a crisp, sturdy base that holds the egg white mounds.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites that are under-beaten will not hold their shape and spread on the toast, while over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy. Stiff peaks trap air that gives the nests their light, lofty texture.

“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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