Why it works: Cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cheese Wafers
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Blend the cheese and butter until smooth.
Add the beaten eggs, a little water, and enough flour to form a stiff paste.
Roll the paste.
Shape and bake
Cut it into thin sticks about ½ inch wide.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until well browned.
Serve
Serve hot with fruit or salad.
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.
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,253 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Gruyère cheese
- Provides rich cheese flavour and fat that gives the wafers their savoury taste.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, helping the wafers stay short and crisp.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure so the paste holds its shape when rolled and cut.
- Flour
- Forms the stiff paste that gives the wafers their structure as they set in the oven.
The step that matters
Adding flour to a stiff paste. Too little flour leaves the dough sticky and hard to roll, while too much makes the wafers dry and tough. Stopping when the paste is stiff but still pliable keeps the sticks crisp and tender.
“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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