Why it works: Bread and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cheese Savory
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
Toast the bread slices until golden.
Make the topping
In a bowl, mix the egg yolk, cream, bread crumbs, grated cheese, pepper, salt, and cayenne.
Pour the mixture over the toasted bread.
Bake and serve
Place in a 400°F (200°C) oven and brown.
Serve very hot.
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.
-
Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,130 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + cheesetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,655 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cheese + peppertop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Egg yolk
- Binds the topping and helps it set into a rich, cohesive layer as it heats.
- Cheese
- Melts and browns in the oven, adding savoury flavour and a golden crust.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the cream and egg, giving the topping body so it holds on the toast.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the topping soft rather than dry.
The step that matters
Brown in the hot oven. The topping needs enough heat to set and brown evenly. Too little heat leaves it pale and wet, while too long can scorch the cheese and crumbs.
“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.
More cheese toast recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
Macaroni and Cheese102 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes