Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Simple Sweets
Ingredients
Directions
Make the potato base
Whip the whites of eight eggs into a stiff froth.
Boil a couple of large potatoes.
Pass the boiled potatoes through a sieve.
Mix in the yolks of six eggs beaten up with pounded lump sugar to taste.
Add a few drops of essence of vanilla or lemon.
Add the whipped egg whites.
Butter and bread crumb the mould in which the gateau de pommes de terre will be baked.
Bake longer than a souffle.
When done, turn out of the mould onto a dish.
Make the chestnut soufflé
Peel the outer skin from a quantity of chestnuts.
Boil the chestnuts in plenty of water with a bay leaf and a pinch of salt.
When done, remove the inner skin.
Pound the chestnuts in a mortar with sugar to taste and some almond flavouring.
When reduced to a perfectly smooth paste, incorporate half an ounce of very fresh butter.
Add as many yolks of eggs as will make the mixture of the proper consistency.
Add an equal number of egg whites, and one or two over, whisked stiff as usual.
Proceed as with the rice souffle, taking care to break up the macaroni into small pieces.
Make the apple marmalade
Boil some apples with very little water, plenty of lump sugar, and a few cloves or a little cinnamon until you get a well-reduced marmalade.
Pass the marmalade through a hair sieve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| 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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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, giving the soufflé its light, risen structure.
- Potatoes (in the method)
- Cooked and sieved, they provide a starchy, smooth body that holds the mixture together.
- Chestnuts (in the method)
- Pounded into a smooth paste, they supply the main flavour and body of the soufflé.
- Butter
- Enriches the paste, adding richness and a smoother, softer texture.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the mixture and adds flavour to the base and the chestnut paste.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Whites must be whisked stiff and folded in gently. Overmixing knocks out the trapped air, so the soufflé will rise less and turn out dense.
“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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