Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Sago Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Combine a pint of rich milk, 2.5 ounces of butter, 1.5 ounces of sugar, 2 ounces of pearl sago, and 1.5 ounces of blanched almonds chopped very fine.
Mix all together, put over the fire and let it cook for fifteen minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from the stove and let it cool.
Add eggs and flavor
Beat three eggs and add a little at a time until all is used.
Flavor with half a teaspoonful of almond extract.
Bake and serve
Put in a pudding dish and bake for half an hour.
Sift a little powdered sugar over it and serve immediately in the dish in which it is baked.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Add structure and lift, setting into a light, airy custard as they bake.
- Pearl sago
- Thickens the milk mixture and gives the souffle its body and soft texture.
- Milk
- Provides moisture and the liquid base that the sago swells in and the eggs set into.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
The step that matters
Adding the beaten eggs to the cooled base. Adding the eggs a little at a time to the cooled mixture lets them blend in evenly without scrambling. A smooth, fluid batter sets gently in the oven and keeps the souffle light.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, egg):
- Pecansfits better
- Cocoafits about as well
- Almondthe original
- Walnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, 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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