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Souffle a LA Vanille- -vanilla Souffle

A light, airy vanilla soufflé made with milk, vanilla, butter, egg yolks, and whipped egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Souffle a LA Vanille- -vanilla Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the base

  1. In a saucepan, combine 1 pint of milk and a pinch of coarse sea salt. Add the vanilla stick and heat until boiling, stirring to create a smooth paste.

  2. Remove from heat, take out the vanilla stick, and mix in 1 ounce of butter.

  3. Gradually add 3 egg yolks to the mixture, stirring well.

Fold and bake

  1. In a separate bowl, whip 6 egg whites until firm peaks form, then gently fold them into the egg yolk mixture.

  2. Butter a soufflé dish and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Pour in the soufflé mixture.

  3. Place the dish on the hot range for about 1 minute, then transfer to a preheated moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) and bake for about 20 minutes.

  4. Serve 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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 to firm peaks, they trap air and make the soufflé rise and turn light.
Egg yolks
Enrich the base and add richness and structure as the mixture sets in the oven.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that is thickened and carries the vanilla flavour.
Butter
Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture and flavour.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be whipped to firm peaks and folded in gently; overmixing deflates the trapped air, so the soufflé will not rise well 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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