Name: Cheese Pudding
Ingredients: 2 cups milk; ¾ cup bread crumbs; 3 eggs; 1 tablespoon melted butter; ½ teaspoon salt; pinch of pepper; 1 cup grated cheese

Why it works: Bread and butter 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 ↓

Cheese Pudding

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 custard

Heat the milk in a saucepan.
Soak the bread crumbs in the milk for 15 minutes.
In a bowl, beat the eggs and add the melted butter, salt, and pepper.
Whip the egg mixture into the milk and stir in the grated cheese.

Bake and serve

Butter a pudding dish and pour the mixture into it.
Bake covered at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes, then uncover and brown quickly.
Serve immediately, as it will fall if allowed to stand.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,962 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + cheesetop 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: Set the custard into a soft, sliceable structure as they cook.
Milk: Forms the liquid base that the eggs set in, keeping the pudding moist.
Bread crumbs: Soak up the milk and give the pudding body and a tender crumb.
Grated cheese: Adds rich flavor and fat, and browns on the surface when uncovered.
Melted butter: Adds richness and fat for a softer, more tender texture.