Why it works: Egg and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
French Pancakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Beat the egg well.
Add the cream and salt to the egg.
Butter small plates or saucers.
Pour a layer of the mixture into each plate.
Bake and serve
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about six minutes until the pancakes have risen and are a pale fawn.
Serve on a hot dish, plain or with a little diabetic wine sauce.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Provides structure and helps the pancakes set and rise as they bake.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, giving the pancakes a tender texture.
The step that matters
Baking until risen and pale fawn. The batter sets and rises quickly in a hot oven, so baking too long can dry the pancakes and brown them excessively. Watch for the pancakes to rise and turn a pale fawn colour.
“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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