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Dessert

Caramel Souffle

A light, caramel-flavored souffle baked in timbale molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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 cornstarch and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until thickened.

  2. Beat egg yolk and egg white separately until light.

Mix and bake

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

  2. Fold in the beaten egg white gently.

  3. Grease timbale molds with butter and pour the mixture in.

  4. Bake in a preheated oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.

Flavor and serve

  1. Flavor with vanilla, caramel, and salt before serving.

  2. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and mark with a hot poker before serving immediately.

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. Vanilla + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

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 white
Whipped to trap air, giving the soufflé its light, risen structure.
Egg yolk
Enriches the base and adds richness and flavor to the custard.
Cornstarch
Thickens the water into a stable base that supports the soufflé's structure.
Caramel
Adds sweet, toasted caramel flavor to the finished soufflé.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg white. Stirring instead of folding knocks air out of the beaten egg white, so the soufflé will not rise well. Fold gently, keeping the mixture airy, so the structure can set in the oven.

“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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