Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Onion Souffle
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.
Prepare the base
Cook onions in boiling salted water until soft, then drain and force through a sieve to obtain 1 ¼ cups of onion pulp.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and gradually pour in the water and cream.
Stir in the onion pulp and season with salt and pepper.
Make the soufflé
Beat the egg yolks until thick and lemon‑colored, then mix them into the onion mixture.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and dry, then gently fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish and bake at 350 °F (175 °C) for 25 minutes.
Serve immediately.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped into stiff foam that traps air, giving the soufflé its light, risen texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the base and help set the custard-like structure as the soufflé bakes.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and liquid into a white sauce that holds the onion pulp together.
- Onion pulp
- Provides the main flavor and moisture of the soufflé base.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce base and adds fat for a smooth, rich texture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be beaten until stiff but not dry, then folded gently. Overmixing knocks out the trapped air, so the soufflé rises less and turns dense.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, cream, pepper, egg):
- Spinachfits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, cream, pepper, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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