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 ↓
Souffles
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the base
In a saucepan, combine milk, potato flour, powdered sugar, salt, and flavoring.
Stir and heat until it forms a smooth paste.
Separate the eggs, placing yolks in a bowl and whites on a dish.
Whip and combine
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Stir the yolks into the paste, then gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased souffle dish.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until puffed and golden.
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.
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).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + buttertop 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
- Whites trapped by beating create the airy structure that makes the soufflé rise and puff.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the smooth paste that the eggs are folded into.
- Potato flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth paste that supports the folded egg structure.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites gently. Egg whites hold air only while their foam stays intact. Stirring vigorously deflates the foam, so the soufflé will not rise well in the oven.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, egg, butter):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, egg, butter. 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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