Why it works: Rice and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,137 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
A Souffle of Rice
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the case
Roll the tart paste to about ⅛ inch thick and line a plain mold with it.
Fill the mold with bread to keep the paste up and bake until firm.
Remove the bread and set the mold aside.
Make the rice filling
In a saucepan, combine the rice, milk, cinnamon, and lemon peel; boil gently until the rice is done, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add the butter, sifted sugar to taste, and brandy; mix well and let cool.
Whisk the egg whites into a stiff froth and fold into the rice mixture.
Remove the cinnamon and lemon peel, then pour the soufflé mixture into the prepared paste.
Bake and serve
Sift sugar over the top and bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Serve immediately once done.
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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Rice + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whisked into a stiff froth, they trap air and give the soufflé its light, risen structure.
- Rice
- Cooked in milk until tender, it forms the thick body of the filling.
- Milk
- Cooks with the rice to create a soft, creamy base for the filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the filling.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps brown the top during baking.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites into the rice mixture. Whipped egg whites hold air that makes the soufflé rise. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing, so the soufflé stays light after baking.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, cinnamon, butter, sugar, brandy, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, cinnamon, butter, sugar, brandy, 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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