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 ↓
Apple Souffle
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 rice base
Boil the milk with the lemon rind until flavored, then strain.
Add the rice to the milk.
Let the rice swell over low heat.
Add sugar to taste.
Crush the rice to a smooth pulp with a wooden spoon.
Line the bottom of a round cake tin with the rice mixture.
Line the sides of the cake tin with the rice mixture.
Bake the lined tin until the rice border is set.
Make the filling
Mix the apple marmalade with the beaten egg yolks and butter.
Stir the mixture over heat until thickened.
Remove the mixture from heat.
Fold in the beaten egg whites until combined.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into the rice border.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour. Watch closely.
Serve immediately to prevent it from falling.
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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Rice + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + appletop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Rice + appletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,311 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rice
- Forms the set rice border that holds the soufflé mixture as it rises.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the filling and thicken it when stirred over heat.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in, they trap air so the soufflé rises and becomes light.
- Apple marmalade
- Adds fruit flavor and sweetness to the filling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture to the filling.
- Milk
- Cooks with the rice to form the soft, set base.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the whites. Overmixing deflates the foam, so the soufflé rises less and turns dense.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, lemon, sugar, egg, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, lemon, sugar, egg, butter. 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.
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