Why it works: Parmesan cheese and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,608 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Cream-Crust with Parmesan
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roll out the cream crust lightly and mix in the grated cheese.
Cut the mixture into small rounds using a pastry cutter.
Brush the rounds with a mixture of egg yolk and milk.
Bake and serve
Bake for about 15 minutes until golden.
Serve very hot.
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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Parmesan cheese + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,608 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cream + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,566 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Parmesan cheese + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,368 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream crust
- Forms the pastry base that holds the tart shape and becomes flaky when baked.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and browns as it bakes.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on the surface to promote a golden colour and sheen.
The step that matters
Brush the rounds with egg yolk and milk. The egg wash is what gives the golden colour; applied unevenly or too thickly it can pool and brown unevenly or stick the pastry to the tray.
“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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