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Tomato Timbales

A baked tomato custard in individual molds, served with optional cream sauce or cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Tomato Timbales

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 the custard

  1. Beat together the whole eggs and egg yolks until frothy.

  2. Add cream, salt, onion juice, baking soda, paprika, and sugar; mix well.

  3. Stir in the tomato puree until combined.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into buttered timbale molds.

  2. Place the molds in a pan and surround them with boiling water.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until firm, ensuring the water does not boil.

  4. Once done, turn the timbales out of the molds and serve with cream sauce or plain.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  2. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  3. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Coagulate as they bake, giving the timbales their firm, sliceable structure.
Egg yolks
Add richness and smoothness, making the custard tender rather than rubbery.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture, producing a softer, silkier texture.
Tomato puree
Provides the main flavor and liquid, which the eggs set around.
Baking soda
Reacts with the tomato's acidity, helping lighten the texture and tone down sharpness.

The step that matters

Bake in a water bath below boiling. Gentle, indirect heat from the surrounding water lets the egg custard set evenly. If the water boils, the heat is too harsh, causing bubbles, cracks, or a grainy, overcooked texture.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, onion, sugar, butter, sauce, cheese):

  1. Mustardfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, onion, sugar, butter, sauce, cheese. 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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