Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cauliflower Escalloped with Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cauliflower
Remove leaves and stalk from cauliflower, separate into florets, and soak for thirty minutes in cold water to cover.
Cook cauliflower for twenty minutes or until soft in boiling salted water. Drain and serve immediately.
Make the cheese sauce
In a saucepan, combine three tablespoons flour, three tablespoons butter, one-half teaspoon salt, pepper, one and one-half cups milk, and one-half cup grated cheese; whisk until smooth.
Dissolve an additional one-half cup cheese in the sauce and pour over the cauliflower placed in a buttered baking dish.
Bake
Sprinkle the top with buttered crumbs and bake in a hot oven until the crumbs are browned.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cheese | 1 oz (28g) cheddar | 113 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Sauce | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cauliflower (in the method)
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming soft and tender when cooked.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk and butter into a smooth, sauce-like base.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and helps the crumbs brown in the oven.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the white sauce that coats the cauliflower.
- Cheese
- Adds rich flavor and body to the sauce, melting smoothly into it.
The step that matters
Whisking the sauce until smooth. Flour must be fully blended into the butter and milk as it heats; if lumps form, the sauce will not thicken evenly. Keep whisking so the starch hydrates and the sauce becomes smooth.
“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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