Fried eggs will be tastier when cooked in 1 simple ingredient that's 'better than butter'. For a richer flavour and tender fried egg, stop using butter and oil for a better ingredient that gives the 'most buttery' results.
Why Double Cream is Better Than Butter
Eggs are a classic breakfast option, with every home cook having their own preferred way to eat them and how to cook them. Fried eggs are some of the easiest to make, and are a staple on a full English breakfast. While many recipes call for fats like butter or oil to cook the perfect fried egg, one recipe developer disagrees, claiming that there’s a better alternative ingredient. Recipe developer Megan Scott claimed this simple switch is “better than butter”.
This swap can help create the “most buttery-tasting, tender-yet-caramelized eggs” you’ll ever cook. Instead of using butter or oil, Megan opts for a thicker dairy alternative: double cream. Cream gives the eggs a better flavour and crispier bottom than butter.
The Science Behind Cream Eggs
The idea is that when the cream cooks the eggs, it helps to create a crispy bottom by creating brown butter in the pan. She wrote for Simply Recipes: “To my amazement and delight, the cream eggs were not only delicious, but they tasted even more buttery than eggs fried in actual butter! And for all my worry about the eggs lacking crispness, the cream eggs browned beautifully on the bottom and were somehow both lightly crisp and very tender.”
The idea for “cream eggs” was coined by Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot on their blog, Ideas in Food. To make the perfect caramelised egg, start by heating the double cream in a pan. Megan uses about three tablespoons of cream to cook two eggs. Wait until the cream starts to simmer, then crack in the eggs, along with any seasoning of your choice. Cook until the cream starts to evaporate.
How to Cook the Perfect Cream Egg
The eggs will be done when all of the cream has evaporated and the egg whites have set. Megan instructs to remove the pan from the heat, cover with a lid and allow the yolk to cook from the residual heat. She explained: “When I say that the cream evaporates, that's not the whole story. Cream is mostly water, but it is also very high in fat and milk solids, a term that refers to the protein, carbohydrates, and minerals in dairy products. As you simmer cream, the water indeed evaporates, turning into steam. However, fat and milk solids cannot evaporate, so they remain in the pan, becoming more and more concentrated. Once all the water in the cream has evaporated, the fat ‘fries’ the eggs, and the milk solids start to turn golden, just like when you make brown butter.”
