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Cheese Profiteroles

Cheese profiteroles are choux pastry shells filled with a heated cheese and cream mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and mustard are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cheese Profiteroles

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 the choux

  1. Prepare the choux paste (unsweetened) and let it cool.

  2. Add 1 oz grated cheese, salt, pepper, cayenne, and mustard to the cooled choux paste.

  3. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag with a plain tip.

  4. Pipe the mixture onto a greased baking sheet.

Bake and fill

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 30 minutes.

  2. Once baked, split open the profiteroles.

  3. Fill them with the cheese and cream mixture, which has been heated until creamy.

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. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Cheese + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,805 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Cheese + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,655 recipes

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

  4. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

Grated cheese
Adds rich savoury flavour and, once melted, a creamy texture to the filling.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, helping the filling become smooth and creamy.
Mixed mustard
Adds a sharp tang that balances the richness of the cheese.

The step that matters

Bake until the shells are fully cooked. Choux pastry rises as steam expands its batter, then sets as the starch and egg proteins firm. If the shells are underbaked, they can collapse or stay moist and soft inside, so they need enough time in the oven to dry and hold their shape.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cheese, cream, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Spinachfits about as well
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cheese, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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