Eggs en cocotte

Name: Eggs en cocotte
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 18 min
Total time: 23 min
Yield: 2
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 2 large eggs; 10 g butter, for the dishes; 2 tbsp double cream; A pinch of salt and pepper; 1 tsp chopped chives

Individual eggs baked gently in a water bath.

France · Runny, Tender · Easy · Researched

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 18 min
Serves: 2

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Equipment

Two 150–200 ml ovenproof ramekins · Deep roasting tin · Kettle · Oven gloves

Ingredients

2 large eggs
10 g butter, for the dishes
2 tbsp double cream
A pinch of salt and pepper
1 tsp chopped chives

Method

Heat and butter

Heat the oven to 170°C / 340°F. Butter the dishes and place them in a deep roasting tin.

Look for: The whole inner surface has a thin butter coating.

Fill the dishes

Crack one egg into a small cup and slide it into each dish without breaking the yolk. Spoon a tablespoon of cream around each white, keeping it off the yolk, and season.

Look for: Cream sits around the white, not over the yolk.

Add a water bath

Set the tin on the oven shelf, then pour hot water from a kettle into the tin until it comes halfway up the ramekins. Keep water out of the eggs. Bake for about 15–18 minutes.

Look for: The whites become opaque from the edges inward.

Check and serve

Remove when all white is set and the yolk reaches your chosen firmness. Lift the ramekins out of the water with care. Add chives and serve on a plate with a warning that the dish is hot.

Safety: For this soft-centred preparation, use pasteurised eggs if available. Firm whites and yolks carry the lowest risk. Children, pregnant people, older adults and people with weakened immunity should choose the fully cooked option unless local guidance says otherwise. Colour and texture do not prove that an egg is safe.

Look for: No clear white remains next to the yolk.

Equipment & heat

Temperatures below are for a conventional oven; reduce by 20°C / 35°F for fan cooking. Preheat first. Hob type only matters when heating the filling or water: induction needs a compatible pot, gas flames must stay under the base, and electric rings retain heat after switching off.

Nonstick: No frying pan needed. Ordinary glass or ceramic bowls may not be oven-safe.

Troubleshooting

Set yolk with loose white usually means the dish is too deep or the oven too hot. Use the stated shallow dish or ramekin and check early.

About this version

The names overlap in cookbooks. Here, shirred means direct dry-oven baking and en cocotte uses a water bath, so the guides teach distinct processes.

Unless stated otherwise, use large chicken eggs, approximately 60 g in the shell, refrigerated. Timings are starting points: use the visual checkpoints and any stated temperature check.

Sources

This guide was written from the references below. Egg Atlas has not kitchen-tested it.

Illustrations by Egg Atlas. They show the method; they are not photographs of a tested result.