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Cheese Fondu

A baked cheese and bread crumb mixture served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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

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 mixture

  1. Soak the bread crumbs in the milk for a few minutes.

  2. Beat the eggs until very light and mix them into the soaked bread crumbs.

  3. Add the melted butter, pepper, and salt, then stir in the grated cheese.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter a baking dish and pour the mixture into it.

  2. Sprinkle dry bread crumbs over the top.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden brown.

  4. Serve immediately in the baking dish.

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
Set the custard structure as they cook, holding the fondue together when baked.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the milk and give the fondue body and a soft, tender texture.
Milk
Provides the liquid that sets with the eggs into a creamy custard.
Old cheese
Adds rich flavor and fat, and melts into the custard for savory depth.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing to flavor and a tender crumb.

The step that matters

Bake until golden brown. Egg proteins set as the mixture heats, so underbaking leaves it loose and wet, while overbaking can make it dry and rubbery. Watch for a golden top and a firm center.

“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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