Skip to main content
Dessert

Cheese Fondu Au Gratin

A baked cheese fondue with bread crumbs, milk, eggs, butter, and spices, topped with cracker crumbs and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Fondu Au Gratin

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the custard

  1. Soak the bread crumbs in hot milk for 15 minutes.

  2. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk while heating.

  3. Stir in the beaten eggs, melted butter, cayenne pepper, and salt.

  4. Beat in the grated cheese rapidly.

Assemble and bake

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased pudding dish.

  2. Top with dry cracker crumbs and dot with butter.

  3. Dust lightly with cayenne pepper or paprika.

  4. Bake covered in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes.

  5. Uncover and brown lightly before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Cheese
Provides rich flavor and creamy, melting body throughout the custard.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the hot milk and give the custard body and a soft, tender crumb.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the eggs and crumbs set within.
Baking soda
Raises the mixture slightly and helps lighten its texture as it bakes.

The step that matters

Beat in the grated cheese rapidly. Cheese added to hot liquid can clump or turn grainy if it sits. Beating quickly keeps it evenly distributed and smooth before the eggs set in the oven.

“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.

You might also like

Bread PuddingBread Pudding153 recipesCheese BallsCheese Balls97 recipesSoft Ginger BreadSoft Ginger Bread85 recipesOrange Potato BreadOrange Potato Bread80 recipes