Name: Apple Souffle
Ingredients: 2 pounds apples, peeled and cut; 4 ounces loaf sugar; 6 egg yolks; 2 ounces powdered sugar; 1 pint boiling milk; 6 egg whites; powdered sugar for beating

Why it works: Apple and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,104 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Apple Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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 apple base

Stew the apples with loaf sugar until tender.
Mix egg yolks, powdered sugar, and boiling milk to make a custard.
Steam the custard until firm.
Mix the stewed apples with the custard.

Finish and bake

Beat the egg whites to stiff froth with a little powdered sugar.
Spread the beaten egg whites on top.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Apple + milktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,104 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together16,478 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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

Apples: Provide the main fruit body and moisture that give the soufflé its flavor.
Egg yolks: Enrich the custard and help it set firm when steamed.
Egg whites: Beaten to stiff froth, they trap air and lift the soufflé as it bakes.
Loaf sugar: Sweetens the apples and helps them stew to a tender, smooth texture.
Milk: Adds liquid and richness to the custard, giving it a soft, creamy body.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to stiff froth. Egg whites must be beaten until they hold stiff peaks, because trapped air is what makes the soufflé rise. Underbeaten whites collapse, while overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy and lose their ability to expand evenly in the oven.