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Cheese Fondu Au Gratin

A baked cheese fondue with bread crumbs, milk, eggs, butter, and spices, topped with cracker crumbs and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 Fondu Au Gratin

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 base

  1. Soak the bread crumbs in hot milk for 15 minutes.

  2. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk while heating.

  3. Stir in the beaten eggs, melted butter, cayenne, and salt.

  4. Beat in the grated cheese rapidly.

Assemble and bake

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased pudding dish.

  2. Top with dry cracker crumbs and dot with butter.

  3. Dust lightly with cayenne or paprika.

  4. Bake covered in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes.

  5. Uncover and brown lightly before serving.

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.

  1. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  3. Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  4. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  5. 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
Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Bread crumbs
Soak up the hot milk to give the base body and a soft, tender crumb.
Cheese
Adds rich flavour and fat, and melts into the custard for a creamy texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the crumbs soften in and the eggs set within.
Baking soda
Raises the mixture slightly and helps it stay light during baking.

The step that matters

Beat in the grated cheese rapidly. Cheese can turn grainy or greasy if it is overheated or added slowly, so it should be mixed in quickly while the base is warm to keep it smooth and evenly blended.

“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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