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 ↓
Ramakins
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Soak the French roll in cream until soft.
In a mortar, beat the cheeses and butter together with the egg yolks.
Mix in the soaked roll until well combined.
Make the batter
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into small paper pans that are longer than square.
Bake in a Dutch oven until golden brown.
Serve hot.
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.
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,655 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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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 whites
- Whipped into foam, they lighten the mixture and help it rise and set airy.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the cheese and bread into a smooth mixture.
- Cheshire cheese
- Provides savory flavor and, as it melts, helps the roll set firm.
- Gloucester cheese
- Adds savory flavor and body, helping the mixture hold together when baked.
- French roll
- Provides bread structure that absorbs the cream and gives the custard body.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Egg whites hold air only when beaten to foam, and deflating them by vigorous stirring loses the lift that makes the baked roll light.
“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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