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 ↓
Pap Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the base
In a bowl, combine flour and enough milk to make a stiff paste.
Before the mixture cools, add butter and beat well.
Incorporate the egg yolks and sugar to taste.
Bake and serve
Fold in the beaten egg whites until combined.
Pour the mixture into a buttered baking dish.
Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.
Sprinkle with sugar before serving.
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.
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Forms a stiff paste that gives the soufflé its structure once baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a tender texture and smooth mouthfeel.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Egg whites
- Beaten into foam, they lighten the mixture and help it rise in the oven.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air bubbles in the whites intact. Stirring or deflating them removes the lift the soufflé needs to rise and stay 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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