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Macaroni and Cheese, Plain

A baked macaroni dish with cheese, egg yolks, cream, and broth or milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter 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 and Cheese, Plain

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Break the macaroni into 2-inch lengths and wash it in water.

  2. Boil the macaroni in broth or milk with a little salt until tender.

  3. Mash the cheese in a bowl.

  4. Mix in the egg yolks, cream, and 4 ounces of the broth or milk.

  5. Grease a baking dish.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the cooked macaroni inside the baking dish.

  2. Pour the cheese mixture over the macaroni.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until set.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Cheddar cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,436 recipes

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

  4. Cheddar cheese + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,964 recipes

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

  5. Cheddar cheese + creamtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,036 recipes

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

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 custard together as it sets.
Cheese
Provides rich flavor and fat, and helps the custard thicken as it cooks.
Egg yolks
Act as the setting agent, thickening the cheese mixture into a creamy custard when baked.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, giving the custard a smooth, soft texture.
Broth or milk
Supplies moisture and liquid that cooks the pasta and loosens the cheese mixture.

The step that matters

Bake until set. Egg yolks thicken as their proteins coagulate with heat. Pulling the dish too early leaves a runny custard, while overbaking can make it grainy or curdled.

“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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