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Cheese Croquettes

Cheese croquettes are fried cheese cubes coated in breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 8 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 ↓

Cheese Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cheese sauce

  1. Melt butter in a saucepan.

  2. Whisk in flour and stir until smooth.

  3. Add milk and stir until the sauce thickens.

  4. Add egg yolks without beating them, stir until well mixed.

  5. Add grated cheese and stir until melted.

  6. Remove the sauce from heat.

  7. Fold in cheese cubes.

  8. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

Shape and coat

  1. Spread the mixture in a shallow pan.

  2. Allow the mixture to cool.

  3. Turn the cooled mixture onto a board.

  4. Cut the mixture into small squares or strips.

  5. Dip each piece in breadcrumbs.

  6. Dip each piece in egg.

  7. Dip each piece in breadcrumbs again.

Fry and serve

  1. Fry the coated pieces in deep fat until golden.

  2. Drain the fried pieces on brown paper.

  3. Serve as a cheese course.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

909Calories
35 gProtein
36 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
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)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 Fannie Merritt Farmer. 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 + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Enriches the sauce and carries flavour as the base of the roux.
Flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that holds the croquettes together.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens into a sauce.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the sauce so it sets when cooled.
Gruyère cheese
Melts into the sauce to give a strong, savoury cheese flavour.
Mild cheese
Adds soft pieces of cheese that stay distinct and add creamy texture.

The step that matters

Allow the mixture to cool fully before shaping. A warm cheese sauce is soft and runny, so it will not hold its shape or coat evenly. Cooling lets the starch and egg proteins set the mixture firm enough to cut and bread.

“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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