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 ↓
Cheese Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Melt two level tablespoons of butter in a saucepan.
Add two level tablespoons of cornstarch and one level tablespoon of flour.
Add one-quarter teaspoon of salt and a little paprika.
Add three-quarters cup of milk, stir and cook until smooth.
Remove from heat, add the beaten yolks of three eggs and three-fourths cup of grated cheese.
Beat the mixture until smooth and cooled a little.
Bake and serve
Fold in the stiffly beaten whites of eggs.
Pour into a buttered baking dish.
Set the dish in a pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven for thirty minutes.
Serve immediately.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Cheese | 1 oz (28g) cheddar | 113 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air that makes the soufflé rise, while yolks enrich the base.
- Cheese
- Adds rich flavor and fat to the base, giving the soufflé its savory character.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that, thickened, carries the other ingredients.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that holds the soufflé's structure.
- Flour
- Adds body to the base, helping it thicken and hold its shape.
- Butter
- Enriches the base and helps form the smooth roux-style starting sauce.
The step that matters
Fold in the stiffly beaten whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whites. Stirring or deflating the mixture before baking leads to a flat, dense soufflé.
“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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