Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Prune Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the prunes
Wash and soak the prunes overnight.
Stew the prunes until very soft.
Remove the pits and chop the prunes very finely.
Add the lemon juice to the chopped prunes.
Make the soufflé
Beat the whites of the six eggs very stiff.
Add the six tablespoonfuls of sugar and one-half teaspoonful of salt to the beaten egg whites and beat together.
Beat in the chopped prunes with the egg mixture.
Put the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a cool oven for thirty minutes.
Serve immediately with creamy sauce.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Prune | not in our table | 0 |
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.
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites give the soufflé its light, airy structure as they set in the oven.
- Prunes
- Provide the main flavour and moisture, and their softened pulp lightens the mixture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the soufflé and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweet prune flavour.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites very stiff. Stiff whites trap air that makes the soufflé rise. Under-beaten whites collapse, and over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy, so the soufflé can fall or crack.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, 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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