Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Chocolate Soufflé
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Melt the butter.
Add the flour.
Gradually pour in the milk while stirring constantly.
Cook until the mixture reaches boiling point.
Make the chocolate mixture
Melt the chocolate in a small saucepan over hot water.
Add the sugar and water to the chocolate.
Stir until the mixture is smooth.
Combine the chocolate mixture with the flour mixture.
Add the beaten egg yolks.
Cool the mixture.
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Add the vanilla.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Bake in a moderate oven for twenty-five minutes.
Serve with Cream Sauce I.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Water | 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.
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
-
Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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, while yolks enrich the custard.
- Flour
- Cooked with butter and milk, it thickens the base so it can hold the rising foam.
- Butter
- Fat that combines with flour to form the roux that thickens the milk base.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavour and, with the milk base, body to the mixture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the bitterness of the chocolate.
The step that matters
Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whites; stirring or deflating them causes the soufflé to rise poorly and turn 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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