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Cheese Savory Custard

A custard made with egg, milk, Parmesan cheese, salt, and paprika, baked until firm and served as a topping for soup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and parmesan cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,608 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Cheese Savory Custard

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the custard

  1. Beat together the egg and egg yolk.

  2. Stir in the milk, grated cheese, salt, and paprika.

  3. Pour the mixture into a small greased pan.

  4. Set the pan in another pan filled with hot water.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until firm, without browning.

  2. Cut into narrow strips or desired shapes.

  3. Cool and add to clear soup just before serving.

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 + parmesan cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,608 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + parmesan cheesetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,368 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the custard into a firm, sliceable structure as they cook.
Milk
Provides the liquid that the egg proteins set within, keeping the custard tender.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory flavor and richness to the custard.

The step that matters

Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until firm, without browning.. Egg custard sets through gentle heat; high heat or overbaking makes the proteins tighten and weep, producing a rubbery texture and browning the surface.

“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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