Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Sweet Omelet Souffle
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 custard base
Beat the egg whites separately.
Beat the egg yolks separately.
Combine the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan.
Place the saucepan in boiling water.
Mix the corn starch with a little cold milk.
Stir the mixture into the saucepan and cook until it boils for 3 minutes.
Remove the saucepan from heat.
Add the butter and flavoring.
Stir in the beaten yolks when the mixture is not scalding hot.
Fold and bake
Beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff.
Fold the stiff egg whites into the mixture.
Add the baking powder.
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered pan.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) until light yellow brown.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + corntop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Corn + lemontop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,927 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,345 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whipped whites give the souffle its light, airy structure, while yolks enrich the custard.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the milk mixture into a stable custard that holds the folded eggs.
- Rich sweet milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding moisture and body.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the heat, helping the mixture rise and lighten.
- White granulated sugar
- Sweetens the custard and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
The step that matters
Stir in the beaten yolks when the mixture is not scalding hot.. If the custard is too hot, the egg yolks can scramble or curdle instead of blending smoothly. Letting it cool slightly first keeps the base silky and ready to fold.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, milk, corn, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, corn, butter, 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.
You might also like
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Corn Cake90 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.