Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Apricot Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the base
Drain the apricots and pass them through a fine sieve.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, and add the milk.
Cook over medium heat until the mixture no longer sticks to the sides of the pan.
Let it cool slightly, then beat in the egg yolks.
Assemble and bake
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the apricot mixture.
Pour the mixture into a prepared mold and bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until puffed and golden.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Apricot + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together826 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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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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Apricot + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,458 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Egg whites
- Whisked to stiff peaks, they trap air and lift the soufflé as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Beaten into the thickened base, they add richness and help set the custard structure.
- Apricots
- Pureed into the base, they provide the main fruit flavour and moisture.
- Vienna flour
- Cooked with butter and milk, it thickens the base so it holds the whisked egg whites.
- Butter
- Melted with the flour, it adds richness and fat for a tender texture.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base with flour and butter, adding moisture and body.
The step that matters
Folding the egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the whisked whites. Stirring or deflating them makes the soufflé heavy and prevents it from rising well in the oven.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, milk, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, milk, egg. 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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