Shirred eggs, or oeufs en cocotte as they are known in France, accompanied by toast soldiers (thinly-sliced sections of toast) are one of the most glamorous, velvety breakfast dishes around. Once you go shirred, you'll never fry an egg again! Why make such a bold claim? Read on to find out.
"Shirred" eggs are essentially baked eggs with the addition of cream, fresh herbs, and a little cheese. There are endless variations on additional ingredients, and you can modify the recipe with what you have on hand or prefer. The dish is simple to make, but will absolutely wow you with flavor, elegance and texture.
The preparation requires a little forethought, and slightly more effort (although hardly!) than turning on the flame for a fried egg. However, the resulting dish is the grand dame of savory breakfasts. Actually, this perfect meal of a simple egg and toast is great any time of day. Dressed up with a salad, a couple of shirred eggs per person makes a rustic, pretty lunch or dinner.
Leave it to the British to deem thinly-sliced pieces of toast as "soldiers." It's such a jolly term for a jolly way to eat toast, perfect for dunking into the egg's gooey yolk. I recommend serving soldiers with shirred eggs, as they make lovely vehicles for mopping up the creamy eggs as well as making sure you've gotten every last bit of the food baked onto your ramekin! Small changes to things I eat regularly keep my palate and my appetite alive and excited.

serves 2
2 eggs
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons shredded Gruyere cheese
2 teaspoons minced shallot
a few sprigs of thyme
2 pieces of toast, cut into thin slices
Preheat oven to 425°F. Lightly grease two 4-inch ramekins (you can use a smaller size, or tea cups work as well; you may have to adjust your cooking time for desired setting of the eggs).
Crack each egg into a ramekin, and pour 1 tablespoon of cream onto each egg. Sprinkle the cheese, shallots and a few thyme leaves onto each egg.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes (7 for a very runny yolk, 10 for a firmer yolk), until the egg is 'set' to your preference. Serve immediately with toast soldiers. Eggs will continue to set up as you eat, so get them to the table as soon as possible.
Recipe Notes:
• I've read many recipes that call for baking the ramekins in a water bath, after testing with and without, I found no difference, so have eliminated this step from my recipe.
• You can make shirred eggs on a larger scale, as Faith did a few years ago, with many eggs in a big casserole dish, cooking times may need a little adjustment, but this is a nice idea for a weekend brunch.
• Additional ingredient ideas: caramelized onions, chopped olives, sauteed mushrooms, snippets of chives or green onions, bell pepper slivers, diced tomatoes, and goat cheese are all great in eggs cocotte.
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(Images: Leela Cyd Ross)
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Comments (15)
This looks yummy! Will definitely have to try it.
I just came here to say that while I don't eat eggs, I find them to be irresistibly pretty to look at. haha
What brand ramekin are you using? Since you say the water bath does not make a difference, I'd like to try this in the toaster oven, but I need a dish that won't crack.
Here in Paris, I've had oeufs en cocotte with herbs, gruyere, and a few slivers of foie gras...HEAVEN ON EARTH.
@saluki - I've made shirred eggs for several years now in a toaster oven, using Apilco ramekins, which I was lucky enough to purchase with my employee discount at Williams-Sonoma nearly a decade ago. However, I have also checked out the much less expensive ones from Target and World Market, and anything made of real porcelain would work fine.
Huh. I always assumed that shirring involved some stirring or swishing motion, just because of the way the word sounded.
Butter shirred eggs with bacon and chives. Best breakfast ever.
This looks so great and I'm starving!
I've made these several times and find that the yolks cook much faster than the whites leaving me with a firm yolk and wobbly white when I really want it the other way around! Any ideas or suggestions?
This recipe looks faboo! The eggs are so fluffy-I don't know whether to eat or cuddle them. Thanks for the inspiration!
hmm.. cbbmiller -- not sure how to help you out there -- make sure your oven is calibrated, check on the eggs for the last 4 minutes, opening the door and peeking on the yolk 'doneness.' also, i cook mine on the top rack -- could this be the thing that's making a difference? hope that helps.
I'm getting the hard yolk wobbly white problem too. And I'm cooking them in a toaster oven (more efficient then turning on the oven for one little egg!) so even if the heat is coming from the wrong spot everything is still getting hot fast. I might try it without the cream next time.
had this dish at Balthazar in NYC, and have made it a few times since. This is really the true way to enjoy an egg in decadence. lovely, so pure. ----mouthwatering photos!
It's Ramadan and i am done with regular sehri (the 3am meal) i think i will eat this for the remaining 10 days of Ramadan :).
Thank you
This is such a good breakfast. I used smaller prep ramekins and it was hard to tell by looking if the yolk was done, so I wound up leaving them in a too long. I think 7 min would have been perfect. Still delicious, but I'll know better for next time.