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Nuns' Toast

A cheese sauce made from butter, flour, milk, cream, eggs, and mild American cheese, served over toasted bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 13 ingredients
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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 ↓

Nuns' Toast

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Cut four or five hard-boiled eggs into slices.

  2. Put a piece of butter half the size of an egg into a saucepan and, when it begins to bubble, add a finely chopped onion.

  3. Let the onion cook a little without taking color, then stir in a teaspoonful of flour.

  4. Add a cupful of milk and stir until it becomes smooth; then put in the slices of eggs and let them get hot.

Toast and serve

  1. Pour the sauce over neatly trimmed slices of hot buttered toast.

  2. Season the sauce to taste with pepper and salt.

  3. Toast thin slices of bread until an even, crisp brown.

  4. Place the toast on a warm plate, allowing one small slice to each person.

  5. Pour enough melted cheese over the toast to cover them.

  6. Serve while warm.

Make the cheese topping

  1. Spread a little prepared mustard over the toast before adding the cheese.

  2. Put half an ounce of butter in a frying pan; when hot, add gradually four ounces of mild American cheese.

  3. Whisk the cheese thoroughly until melted.

  4. Beat together half a pint of cream and two eggs; whisk into the cheese.

  5. Add a little salt.

  6. Pour the mixture over the crisp toast and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

954Calories
35 gProtein
41 gFat
110 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  4. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 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

Cheese
Melts into a smooth, rich sauce that coats the toast and gives the dish its flavour.
Eggs
Add richness and body, and set gently when heated to thicken the topping.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth sauce that clings to the toast.
Butter
Adds fat and flavour, and helps the flour cook into a smooth base.
Milk
Makes up the liquid of the sauce, which thickens as it heats with the flour.
Cream
Adds richness and a softer, silkier texture to the cheese mixture.

The step that matters

Whisking the cream and eggs into the melted cheese. Eggs can scramble and turn grainy if the cheese mixture is too hot. Keep the heat low and whisk steadily so the sauce stays smooth and thick.

“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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