Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Macaroni Cream
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
Boil the macaroni in just enough water until tender.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine milk, cornflour, and cheese to make a sauce.
Assemble and bake
Place the cooked macaroni in a pie dish.
Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni.
Grate additional cheese on top.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until browned.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,861 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Macaroni
- Forms the bulk and structure of the dish, holding the sauce in place.
- Cheese
- Provides rich flavour and, melted into the milk, gives the sauce its body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, carrying the cheese and thickening with starch.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce as it heats.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat for flavour and a silkier mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Make the sauce. Cornflour thickens milk only when it heats and comes to a simmer while stirred, and adding cheese to a very hot sauce can make it grainy or oily. Keep the heat moderate so the sauce thickens smoothly.
“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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