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Cheese and Semolina

A baked cheese and semolina cake made with milk, eggs, and cheese.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cheese and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,426 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cheese and Semolina

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 base

  1. Bring the milk to a boil.

  2. Stir in the semolina and cook until it thickens.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese, seasoning, and egg yolks.

Bake

  1. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.

  2. Bake gently at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.

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. Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

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

  2. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Milk + semolinatop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together316 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Cheese + semolinatop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together60 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Semolina + eggtop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together327 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

Semolina
Thickens the milk into a stiff base that holds the cake together.
Eggs
Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks lift the mixture and give the cake structure as it sets.
Cheese
Adds richness, savory flavor, and fat that softens the texture.
Milk
Hydrates the semolina and provides moisture for a tender, custard-like crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that makes the cake rise. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the mixture and leaves a dense cake.

“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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