Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cheese Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Rub the flour into the melted butter and let it bubble until cooked, but do not let it brown.
Beat the yolks of the eggs and add them to the milk; turn this mixture slowly over the thickening, adding cheese and seasoning.
Continue to stir until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth and thickened, but do not let it boil.
Take the mixture from the fire and allow it to cool a little.
Bake and serve
Fold in the stiffly-beaten egg whites and pour the batter into a buttered baking dish.
Bake for twenty minutes over water in the oven.
Be very careful about opening the oven door, as soufflés fall easily.
Serve immediately; when the heat is lost the soufflé will fall.
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 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| 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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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,481 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 lift and airy structure, while yolks enrich the base.
- Flour
- Cooked with butter into a roux, it thickens the milk so the base holds the air.
- Butter (in the method)
- Fat that cooks the flour smoothly and adds richness to the base.
- Milk
- Liquid base that the roux thickens into a smooth sauce for the cheese.
- Grated cheese
- Melts into the sauce to add savoury flavour and richness.
The step that matters
Avoid opening the oven door during baking. The soufflé rises on air trapped in the beaten egg whites, and that structure is still setting. A sudden drop in oven heat or a draft can collapse it, so it should be left undisturbed until done.
“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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