Why it works: Rice and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apple Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the apples
Peel and core the apples, then boil them in a small amount of water with the lemon rind until tender.
Drain the water and mash the apples with a fork until smooth.
Make the rice base
Boil the rice in the milk until soft, then stir in the egg yolks.
Arrange the rice in a circle on a serving dish.
Assemble and bake
Mix the sugar with the apples and place it in the center of the rice.
Scatter the crystallized cherries over the apples.
Whisk the egg whites until frothy and spread them over the top.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar and brown in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
Serve warm.
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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Lemon + ricetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Apple + ricetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,311 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whisked to a foam, they set in the oven and give the souffle its light, airy structure.
- Egg yolks
- Stirred into the hot rice and milk, they enrich the base and help it set with a custard-like texture.
- Tart apples
- Mashed into a smooth filling that provides moisture and a bright, tangy flavor.
- Rice
- Cooked soft in milk to form a creamy base that holds the souffle together.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the apple filling and helps the top brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Whisking the egg whites until frothy. Egg whites trap air when beaten, and that air expands in the oven to lift the souffle. If they are underwhipped or deflated when spread on top, the souffle will rise poorly and turn dense.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, rice, milk, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Orangefits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, rice, milk, egg, sugar. 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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