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Dessert

Canadian Fondu

A cheese fondue made with butter, bread crumbs, cheese, milk, eggs, and salt, baked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Canadian Fondu

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.

Prepare the base

  1. Cut the butter and cheese into small pieces and place them in a large bowl with the bread crumbs.

  2. Pour the scalding hot milk over the mixture.

  3. Add the beaten egg yolks and a pinch of salt. Mix well.

  4. Cover the bowl and place it on the stove, stirring occasionally until everything is dissolved.

Bake and serve

  1. Fold in the beaten egg whites until stiff.

  2. Pour the mixture into a buttered dish or pie plate.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes.

  4. Serve immediately after removing from the oven.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 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. Cheese + milktop 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
Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks lighten the mixture and help it rise and set in the oven.
Cheese
Melts into the milk to give the fondue its rich flavor and smooth, stretchy body.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the hot milk and butter, thickening the mixture and giving it body.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture.
Sweet milk
Liquid that melts the cheese and hydrates the crumbs into a smooth base.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites must be beaten until stiff and folded in gently. Overmixing deflates the air bubbles, so the dish will not rise and set properly 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.

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