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 Patties
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
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the filling
In a saucepan, rub together the butter and flour.
Stir in the milk and heat until it boils.
Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks one by one.
Add the grated cheese and then fold in the beaten egg whites and seasonings.
Bake and serve
Line pastry pans with the puff pastry.
Pour the mixture into the lined pans and bake until golden.
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.
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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).
-
Milk + cheesetop 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
- Adds richness and flavour to the base and helps the flour blend smoothly with the milk.
- Flour
- Its starch thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that holds the filling together.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the flour thickens and that keeps the filling moist.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and set the filling, while beaten whites add lift and a lighter texture.
- Cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and fat, and melts into the filling as it bakes.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the whites, which gives the filling lift. Stirring hard deflates the foam and leaves the patties dense.
“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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