Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Custard Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Bring the milk to a boil.
Beat the flour and butter together.
Add the boiling milk gradually to the flour and butter mixture, cooking for eight minutes and stirring often.
Beat the sugar and egg yolks together.
Add the sugar-yolk mixture to the cooked mixture and set aside to cool.
Finish and bake
When cool, beat the egg whites to a stiff froth and fold them into the mixture.
Bake in a buttered pudding dish slowly for about twenty-five minutes.
Serve immediately.
Make the sauce
Heat the butter to a cream.
Add the sugar gradually, beating all the while.
Add the flavoring and the cream.
When beaten to a smooth paste, place the bowl in a basin of hot water and stir until the sauce is smooth and creamy.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid that the flour paste thickens into a smooth custard base.
- Flour
- Starch that thickens the hot milk into a stable base for the soufflé.
- Butter
- Adds fat that gives the base a rich, smooth texture.
- Eggs (in the method)
- Yolks enrich and thicken the base, and whipped whites lift the soufflé as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and helps the whipped whites hold their foam.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. The whites hold the air that makes the soufflé rise. Stirring them in roughly or overmixing deflates the foam, so the soufflé bakes flat and dense. Fold gently and only until no streaks remain.
“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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