Why it works: Butter and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,475 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Baked Eggs
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Butter individual cups and break an egg into each cup.
Place the cups in a pan filled with water.
Bake and serve
Bake in the oven until the egg whites are slightly opaque.
Serve the baked eggs on thin slices of ham that have been fried in a pan.
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 + hamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Set to a tender custard-like texture as the whites firm while the yolks stay soft.
- Butter
- Coats the cups so the eggs release cleanly and adds richness to the flavour.
- Thin slices of ham
- Adds savoury, salty flavour and a browned, fried surface beneath the eggs.
The step that matters
Bake until the whites are only slightly opaque. Egg whites set between about 60 and 85°C and keep cooking from residual heat after leaving the oven. Pulling them when the whites are just set keeps the yolks runny and avoids a rubbery texture.
“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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