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Soufflés, Omlets, &C.

A light baked soufflé made from rice flour, citron-flavoured cream, or cheese, served as soon as it leaves the oven.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Acton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 29 ingredients
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Why it works: Rice and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 851 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Soufflés, Omlets, &C.

Ingredients

Directions

Make the rice soufflé base

  1. Take from a pint and a half of new milk or cream sufficient to mix four ounces of flour of rice to a perfectly smooth batter.

  2. Put the remainder into a very clean, well-tinned saucepan, and when it boils, stir the rice briskly into it.

  3. Let it simmer, keeping it stirred all the time, for ten minutes, or more should it not be very thick.

  4. Mix well with it two ounces of fresh butter, one and a half ounces of pounded sugar, and the grated rind of a fine lemon.

Finish and bake the rice soufflé

  1. In two or three minutes take it from the fire, and beat quickly and carefully in, by degrees, the yolks of six eggs.

  2. Whisk the whites to a very firm solid froth, and when the pan is buttered and all else ready for the oven, stir them gently into the other ingredients.

  3. Pour the soufflé immediately into the pan and place it in a moderate oven, keeping the door closed for a quarter of an hour at least.

  4. When the soufflé has risen very high, is of a fine colour, and is quite done in the centre, send it instantly to table.

Make the potato-flour soufflé

  1. Rub a lump of sugar weighing two ounces and a half on the citron rind to extract the essence, or pare the rind in thin strips and infuse it in the cream.

  2. Blend two ounces of potato-flour smoothly with a quarter of a pint of milk, and pour boiling milk or cream over it, using a pint of good cream.

  3. Stir the mixture in a large basin until it thickens, then add a grain of salt, two ounces of fresh butter just dissolved, and the sugar.

  4. Add by degrees the whisked yolks of six fresh eggs, or seven should they be very small.

  5. Beat the whites lightly and quickly until firm enough to stand in points when dropped from the whisk, then mix them in at the mouth of the oven without beating.

  6. Fill the soufflé-pan less than half full, set it instantly into a gentle oven, close the door, and do not open it for fifteen or twenty minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1250Calories
46 gProtein
47 gFat
159 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 11 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Cheese1 oz (28g) cheddar113
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Eggs1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Cayenne1 tsp (1.8g)6
Salt1 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.

By Eliza Acton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Rice + potatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together851 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Rice + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,374 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rice flour
Thickens the milk into a smooth base that gives the soufflé its body.
Eggs
Yolks enrich and set the base, while whisked whites trap air that makes the soufflé rise.
Potato-flour
Thickens the cream into a smooth base that supports the risen structure.
Butter
Adds richness and a tender, smooth crumb to the soufflé.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, giving a softer, creamier texture.
Cheese
Adds savoury flavour and richness to the fondu version.

The step that matters

Folding in the whisked whites. Whites must be whisked to a firm froth and folded in gently, not beaten. Their trapped air lifts the soufflé in the oven, and overbeating or deflating them makes it heavy and flat.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, rice, butter, cheese, milk, cream, egg):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Chivefits less well
  4. Leekfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, rice, butter, cheese, milk, cream, 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.

More soufflé recipes

Cheese 198Omelette 114Potato 60Apple 58Prune 53Rice 50 See all 25 →

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