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Scalloped Squash

A baked squash dish with eggs, butter, milk, bread crumbs, pepper, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Scalloped Squash

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.

Prepare the squash

  1. Run the boiled squash through a colander and let it cool.

Make the mixture

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the melted butter and milk.

  2. Add the cooled squash, pepper, and salt to the mixture.

  3. Fold in the bread crumbs until well combined.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) until set and golden brown.

  2. Serve warm.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 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

Squash
Forms the bulk of the dish and provides moisture and body.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set it into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, loosening the mixture so it bakes tender.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and add body, helping the mixture hold together and brown on top.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing flavor and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Bake until set and golden brown. Eggs set as they heat, so underbaking leaves the centre loose and watery, while overbaking makes the custard dry and rubbery. Check that it is firm in the middle and lightly browned on top.

“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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