Recipe: Baked eggs in cream

1 Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C) (gas mark 5).

2 Butter eight small earthenware or porcelain dishes, like the ones you use for crème brûlée.

3 Salt and pepper the bottom.

4 Take a shallow oven-safe dish that will serve as your water bath, and place a piece of newspaper at the bottom*.

5 Set your dishes in it and carefully crack one egg into each, being careful not to break the yolk.

6 Fill your dish halfway with water, then place everything on the stovetop and bring to a boil, then transfer to the oven for 5 minutes.

7 Meanwhile, reduce the cream by half, then stir in the lemon juice and chives.

8 Remove your small dishes, wipe them dry, then divide the reduced cream among each one and serve with your toasted bread strips. Delicious! Keep this baked egg recipe handy as it will be the foundation for many others: try it with sorrel cream, lobster, curried mussel cream, etc. The absolute best is the combination with fresh truffle or canned truffle. *Here's a real trick that will help you: the newspaper prevents the water from boiling hard, keeping it at just a gentle simmer around 175°F (80°C) maximum. Without it, you get violent bubbles that cook the white too quickly and set the yolk too soon. With it, the cooking is gentle, gradual, and even. It's the same principle as for crème brûlée or flans: calm water, perfect results.