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Cheese Timbales

A baked cheese custard in timbale molds, cooked in a water bath.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cheese Timbales

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Melt the butter in a double boiler.

  2. Stir in the flour, salt, and paprika.

  3. Gradually add the cream and chicken stock, stirring until thick and smooth.

Bake and serve

  1. Mix in the grated cheese and beaten eggs.

  2. Pour the mixture into buttered timbale molds.

  3. Bake in a pan of hot water until the centers are firm.

  4. Serve surrounded by a white sauce.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Chicken + cheesetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,936 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

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

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard and give the timbales their firm, sliceable structure.
Cheese
Adds rich flavor and savory body to the custard.
Flour
Thickens the butter and liquid into a smooth, stable base.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, keeping the custard tender.
Butter
Fat that carries flavor and helps form the smooth starting roux.

The step that matters

Bake in a pan of hot water until the centers are firm. Egg custards turn grainy or rubbery if overbaked. A water bath gives gentle, even heat, so the centers set without the edges curdling.

“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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