Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Cheese Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the curd
Stir fresh rennet into the milk until curd forms.
Strain the curd into a large bowl and beat in the butter until smooth.
Make the filling
In another bowl, combine egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, biscuit powder, and sugar; beat until stiff cream forms.
Pour the cream mixture into the curd and mix well.
Bake
Butter tartlet pans and line them with thin puff pastry.
Pour the mixture into the lined pans and bake at 400°F (200°C) until done.
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.
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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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Lemon + biscuittop 12% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together697 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + biscuittop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,009 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Milk
- Forms the curd that gives the cheesecake its body and structure.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the filling set when baked.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture.
- Biscuit powder
- Adds body and a crumbly, toasty base flavour to the filling.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps tenderise the filling.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the filling.
The step that matters
Beat the egg yolk and sugar mixture until stiff cream forms. Thorough beating incorporates air and dissolves sugar, giving the filling a light, even texture. Under-beating leaves it dense and grainy, while over-mixing once combined can make the baked filling tough or cracked.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, egg, biscuit, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, egg, biscuit, sugar. 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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