Why it works: Cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cheese Patties
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the filling
Beat the cheese in a mortar until fine.
Add the butter and beat until well combined.
Incorporate the egg yolks and the egg white, and continue beating until smooth.
Bake
Line tart pans with pastry and fill with the cheese mixture.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until golden.
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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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Cheese + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,253 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cheese
- Forms the main body of the filling and gives the patties their rich, savory flavor.
- Butter
- Adds fat that makes the filling smooth and rich in texture.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the filling so it sets as it bakes.
- Egg white
- Adds structure and helps the filling set as it bakes.
The step that matters
Beating the filling until smooth. Thorough beating breaks the cheese and butter into a uniform mixture, so the eggs blend evenly instead of leaving lumps or streaks. An evenly combined filling sets more consistently in the oven.
“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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