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Bread

Toasted Cheese

A toasted bread topped with a melted cheese mixture of milk, butter, and egg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Toasted Cheese

Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Toasted Cheese

Ingredients

Directions

Make the cheese sauce

  1. In a bain-marie saucepan, combine the sliced cheese and milk.

  2. Stir over low heat until the cheese is dissolved.

  3. Add the butter and beaten egg, mixing well.

Toast and serve

  1. Prepare slices of toast on a dish over hot water or a heater.

  2. Spread the cheese mixture on the toast and let it brown before the fire.

  3. Serve immediately while very hot.

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.

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.

  1. Butter + breadtop 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. Cheese + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

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

  4. Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  5. Cheese + milktop 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

Rich cheese
Melts into a smooth sauce and provides the main flavor and richness.
Milk
Thins the melted cheese so it spreads easily and stays smooth.
Butter
Adds fat for a silkier texture and rich flavor in the sauce.
Egg
Thickens the sauce as it gently heats, giving it body and a creamy set.

The step that matters

Stir over low heat until the cheese is dissolved. High heat can make cheese seize, turn grainy or become oily, because its proteins tighten and separate. Gentle, steady heat lets it melt into a smooth 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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