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Devilled Biscuit with Cheese

A biscuit topped with cheese and cayenne pepper, baked until melted.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,962 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Devilled Biscuit with Cheese

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. Split the water crackers in half.

  2. Generously butter each half.

  3. Sprinkle a layer of cheese over the buttered halves.

  4. Place them in a baking pan.

  5. Dust with cayenne pepper.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

  2. Serve very hot.

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 + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

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

  2. Biscuit + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together841 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Biscuit + cheesetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together252 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Biscuit + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,009 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,861 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Water crackers or water biscuits
Provide a crisp, sturdy base that holds the toppings without going soggy.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the cracker surface brown and crisp in the oven.
Cheese
Melts over the crackers to add savoury flavour and a creamy topping.
Cayenne pepper
Adds a sharp, spicy heat that cuts through the richness of the cheese and butter.

The step that matters

Bake until the cheese is just melted. Five minutes at 400°F is short, so the cheese can burn or the crackers can dry out if left too long. Watch closely and serve while hot, since the cheese firms as it cools.

“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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