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 Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Crumble the stale bread into fine crumbs.
Pour boiling milk over the crumbs and let them soak.
Beat the soaked crumbs with a fork.
Make the pudding
Mix in the grated cheese, pepper, salt, and beaten egg.
Pour the mixture into a small pie dish.
Melt the butter and pour it over the top.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until hot and set.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (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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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Stale bread crumbs
- Form the body of the pudding and absorb the hot milk to create a soft base.
- Milk
- Softens the crumbs and supplies the moisture that gives the pudding its custard-like texture.
- Grated cheese
- Adds rich flavor and fat, and melts into the custard as it bakes.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and sets during baking to hold the pudding together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, and helps the top brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Bake until hot and set. Egg proteins set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the pudding loose and wet in the centre, while overbaking can make it dry and rubbery.
“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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