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 ↓
Cheese Straws
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Rub one-quarter pound of butter and one-half pound of flour together.
Mix lightly six ounces grated cheese with cayenne pepper to taste.
Make into a light dough with one-half teacup of milk, in which dissolve one teaspoonful of yeast powder, and enough ice water to roll out thin.
Shape and bake
Cut into narrow strips five inches long and one-half inch wide.
Bake a light brown in a quick oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 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 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
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).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 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).
Butter and flour 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
- Butter
- Coats the flour and keeps the dough short and tender as it bakes.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the straws together.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and fat, and browns during baking.
- Yeast powder
- Releases gas in the dough so the straws rise and turn light.
- Milk
- Moistens the dough and helps bind it together.
The step that matters
Rolling the dough thin. Thin dough bakes through and crisps evenly. If it is rolled thick, the straws stay doughy inside and may brown unevenly before they set.
“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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