Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Macaroni and Cheese
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.
Cook the macaroni
Break the macaroni into 1-2 inch pieces.
Cook the macaroni in boiling water with salt for about 20 minutes.
Drain the macaroni well.
Assemble and bake
Layer macaroni in a well-buttered pudding dish, adding grated cheese, small pieces of butter and a bit of salt between layers.
Top with a thick layer of cracker crumbs.
Pour cream or milk over the entire dish.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30 minutes until nicely browned on top.
Serve
Serve in the baking dish with a clean napkin pinned around it.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,655 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
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk and structure of the dish, holding the layers together.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the macaroni and cream, giving richness and a savory, creamy texture.
- Cream or milk
- Bakes into a liquid custard that moistens the pasta and sets around it.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the top brown in the oven.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned crust on top of the dish.
The step that matters
Bake until nicely browned on top. Baking long enough lets the milk or cream set and the cheese melt through, while the crumbs and butter brown into a crisp top. Underbaking leaves the dish loose and pale; overbaking can dry it out and toughen the sauce.
“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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