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Dessert

Parmesan Cheese

A baked biscuit made from squares of parmesan cheese topped with whipped cream seasoned with salt, pepper, and cayenne.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Parmesan Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA brisk oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Lay the squares of Parmesan cheese on a buttered sheet of paper on a baking sheet.

  3. Bake until cooked.

  4. Let the biscuits cool.

Make the topping

  1. Season the thick cream with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper.

  2. Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Mix in 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese.

  3. Ice the mixture.

Assemble and serve

  1. Pile the cream high on each square of cheese.

  2. Arrange the squares on a folded napkin or decorative dish paper.

  3. Serve.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  2. Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Parmesan cheese + creamtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Squares of parmesan cheese
Melts and bakes into a crisp, savory biscuit base that holds the cream topping.
Thick cream
Whips into a stiff, airy topping that adds richness and moisture to the crisp cheese.
Grated parmesan cheese
Stirred into the whipped cream to add salty, nutty flavor throughout the topping.

The step that matters

Bake until cooked. Parmesan browns and crisps as its fat separates and its moisture evaporates. Underbaked cheese stays soft and chewy, while overbaked cheese turns bitter and burnt, so watch the color closely.

“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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