Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Omelet Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Separate the egg whites and yolks into two bowls.
In a saucepan, combine the orange flower water and sugar, and bring to a boil for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour the mixture into a cup to cool, then add the yolks and beat until creamy.
Add the salt to the egg whites and whip until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the yolk mixture.
Cook and bake
Melt ½ oz of butter in a frying pan over medium heat until hot but not burning.
Pour the egg mixture into the hot pan and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes.
Transfer the pan to a preheated oven at 240°F (115°C) and bake for 3-4 minutes.
While baking, melt the jam in a saucepan over low heat.
Remove the omelet soufflé from the oven and run a knife around the edge to loosen it.
Serve
Gently shake the pan to release the soufflé onto a hot serving dish.
Serve with melted jam on top.
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.
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + orangetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Whipped whites trap air and set into a light, airy structure when heated.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and browns the base while keeping the omelet from sticking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
- Orange flower water
- Adds a floral aroma that flavours the soufflé.
The step that matters
Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the yolk mixture. Whipped egg whites hold air bubbles that give the soufflé its lift. Heavy stirring deflates them, so the mixture cooks flat and dense instead of light and puffed.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, 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
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 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.