Skip to main content
Main

Oyster Souffles

A creamy oyster soufflé baked until puffed, served immediately.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Oyster Souffles

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 base

  1. In a saucepan, blend the flour and butter over medium heat.

  2. Gradually add the milk and cream, stirring until smooth.

  3. Season with salt, pepper, and sherry.

  4. Sift in the breadcrumbs and bring the mixture to a boil.

  5. Add the diced oysters and heat thoroughly.

  6. Remove from heat and slowly stir in the beaten egg yolks to prevent curdling.

  7. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter ramekins or a souffle dish and fill with the mixture.

  2. Sift breadcrumbs over the top and bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 12 to 15 minutes.

  3. Serve immediately as they will fall quickly.

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 + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Oyster + eggtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

Flour and butter 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 air bubbles expand in the oven, lifting the soufflé and giving it a light, airy structure.
Egg yolks
Enrich the base and help set the custard-like texture as it cooks.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk mixture into a smooth white sauce that holds the soufflé together.
Butter
Combines with flour to form a roux and adds richness to the base.
Milk and cream
Form the liquid base, adding moisture and richness to the soufflé.
Oysters
Provide the main flavour and tender texture throughout the soufflé.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites trap air that makes the soufflé rise. Folding gently keeps those bubbles intact, while stirring deflates them and leaves the soufflé flat and dense.

“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.

You might also like

Mock Oyster SoupMock Oyster Soup21 recipesCorn FrittersCorn Fritters6 recipesTomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipes