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Cheese Fondue

A baked cheese fondue made with cheese, milk, bread crumbs, eggs, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Fondue

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Cream the cheese in a bowl.

  2. Add salt, hot water, bread crumbs, and milk to the cheese.

  3. Beat the egg yolks in a separate bowl.

  4. Add the beaten yolks to the mixture.

  5. Gently fold in the well-beaten egg whites.

Bake and test

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.

  2. Place the baking dish in a pan surrounded by hot water.

  3. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 30 minutes or until firm.

  4. Test the center with a knife.

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. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  2. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

  3. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg whites and yolks set the custard into a firm, sliceable structure as it bakes.
Cheese
Provides the main flavor and fat, giving the baked dish its rich, savory character.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help give the baked mixture body and a tender texture.
Milk
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture soft and creamy as it sets.

The step that matters

Gently fold in the well-beaten egg whites.. Egg whites hold air when beaten; folding them gently keeps that air in the mixture, which helps the dish rise and stay light. Stirring vigorously would deflate them and produce a dense result.

“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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