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 gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the cheese base
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until thickened.
Remove from heat and stir in the egg yolks, seasoning, and grated cheese.
Let the mixture cool.
Fill and bake
Beat the egg whites until light and fluffy, then fold into the cheese mixture.
Fill the pastry cases with the cheese mixture.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until heated through and serve immediately.
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 fat and richness to the base of the sauce.
- All-purpose flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce when cooked with the butter.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that thickens into the cheese sauce.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the mixture and help it set when heated.
- American cheese
- Provides the main cheese flavour and melts smoothly into the sauce.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to add lightness and air to the filling.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air whipped into the egg whites, which gives the filling its lift. Stirring hard or letting the mixture get too warm before folding can deflate the foam and make the filling 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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