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Bread

Cheese Spoon Bread

A quick cheese bread made with cornmeal, cheese, egg, milk, baking powder, 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 milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,426 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese Spoon Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the cornmeal

  1. Heat milk, salt, and cornmeal in a double boiler for 30 minutes.

  2. Add cheese and stir until melted and cool.

Finish and bake

  1. Stir in baking powder, then add the beaten egg.

  2. Bake in greased muffin rings or a bread pan for about 20 minutes.

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

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

  2. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

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

  3. Egg + cheesetop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,253 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

Cornmeal
Forms the bulk and body of the bread as it thickens with heat.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Cheese
Adds savory flavor and some richness to the bread.
Milk
Provides moisture and helps the cornmeal cook into a smooth mixture.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the bread rise and lighten.

The step that matters

Cool before adding the egg. If the cornmeal mixture is still very hot, the beaten egg can scramble or cook unevenly. Letting it cool first keeps the egg smooth and blended, so the batter bakes with an even texture.

“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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