Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Cherry Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Scald the milk and gradually pour it over the flour, stirring constantly to form a smooth batter.
Return the mixture to the heat and stir until thickened like hasty pudding.
Pour the hot mixture over the beaten yolks and sugar, whisking thoroughly, then let it cool.
Assemble and steam
Whip the egg whites until stiff and quickly fold them into the cooled mixture.
Butter a mold and line it with the dredged cherries, then pour in the mixture without disturbing the cherries.
Leave space for the souffle to rise, cover the mold, and place it in a pot of boiling water.
Cook for 1.5 hours, then dip the mold in cold water and turn it out onto a hot dish.
Serve
Serve immediately with a good pudding sauce.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + almondtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,800 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 as stiff foam lift the soufflé, while yolks enrich and set the custard.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, providing moisture and a tender texture.
- Flour
- Thickens the scalded milk into a batter that gives the soufflé body and holds its shape.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the custard base and adds tenderness to the cooked soufflé.
- Stoned cherries
- Provide fruit flavor and moisture, and lining the mold makes them show when turned out.
The step that matters
Folding the whites into the cooled mixture. Whites hold air only while stiff; folding gently keeps bubbles intact so the soufflé rises. If the base is still hot, it can deflate the foam and cause the whites to collapse.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, egg, sugar):
- Almondthe original
- Milletfits about as well
- Chestnutfits less well
- Hazelnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, 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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