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Dessert

Caramel Souffle

A light, sweet dessert made with caramel, egg yolk, and whipped egg white, baked until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Caramel Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the base

  1. Combine the cornstarch and water in a saucepan.

  2. Cook the mixture over medium heat until thickened.

Make the batter

  1. Beat the egg yolk and egg white separately in a bowl until light.

  2. Add the thickened mixture to the yolk, one spoonful at a time, mixing well.

  3. Fold in the beaten egg white gently.

Bake and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into buttered timbale molds.

  2. Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven until set.

  3. Sprinkle the tops with powdered sugar.

  4. Mark the tops with a hot poker before serving.

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.

  1. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  3. Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together27,347 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Vanilla and sugar 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

Egg whites
Whipped air bubbles give the soufflé its light, risen structure as it sets.
Cornstarch
Thickens the base so it can hold the whipped egg whites without collapsing.
Egg yolk
Adds richness and body, and sets with heat to firm the soufflé.
Caramel
Adds sweetness and caramel flavour to the soufflé.

The step that matters

Fold in the beaten egg white gently. The whipped whites hold air that makes the soufflé rise. Vigorous stirring knocks out those bubbles, so the soufflé bakes flat and dense instead of light.

“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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