Skip to main content

Timbale of Macaroni, a LA Creme

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Butter and cream 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 ↓

Timbale of Macaroni, a LA Creme

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.

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Line the timbale molds with thinly rolled puff pastry and trim the edges.

  3. Fill the cavity with dry beans and bake until golden.

  4. Boil the macaroni until tender, then drain and cut into pieces about ¼ inch long.

  5. In a sauté pan, melt a small amount of butter, add the macaroni, and season with coarse sea salt and Cayenne pepper.

  6. Stir in a ladleful of rich cream sauce and some grated Parmesan cheese, simmer until hot.

  7. Mix in egg yolks and sweet cream to finish the sauce.

  8. Remove the beans from the timbale shells and fill with the macaroni mixture.

  9. Invert onto a platter and garnish with a slice of truffle cut into a star shape.

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

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

  2. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,733 recipes

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

  5. Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

Swap the beans

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

  1. Walnutfits about as well
  2. Peasfits about as well
  3. Beansthe original
  4. Pistachiofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, cream, sauce, parmesan cheese, egg, truffle. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

You might also like

Macaroni and CheeseMacaroni and Cheese102 recipesCheese MakingCheese Making50 recipesCheese FrittersCheese Fritters34 recipesCheese OmeletteCheese Omelette31 recipes