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Ham in Ramekins

A baked dish of buttered ramekins filled with minced ham, beaten egg whites, yolks, cheese, and paprika.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Ham in Ramekins

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ramekins

  1. Butter the ramekins and line them with finely minced ham.

Assemble

  1. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

  2. Fill each ramekin with the beaten egg whites.

  3. Drop an egg yolk into the center of each ramekin.

  4. Sprinkle with grated cheese and paprika.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the ramekins in a pan of boiling water and bake until set.

  2. Serve hot.

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

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

  2. Ham + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together303 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

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

  4. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

  5. Butter + eggtop 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 whip into a stiff foam that sets into a light structure; the yolk gives richness and a creamy center.
Finely minced ham
Adds savory flavor and salt, lining the ramekin so the custard has a seasoned edge.
Grated cheese
Melts and browns on top, adding savory flavor and a golden surface.
Butter
Greases the ramekins so the set eggs release cleanly and the edges brown slightly.

The step that matters

Place the ramekins in a pan of boiling water and bake until set. A water bath moderates the heat reaching the eggs, so the custard sets gently and stays tender instead of turning rubbery or curdled. Bake only until just set, since egg proteins keep firming as they cool.

“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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