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 ↓
Souffles
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
In a bowl, combine potato starch, egg yolks, butter, and essence.
Gradually stir in the milk while heating on the stove.
Stir continuously until the mixture reaches a boil, then remove from heat.
Once cooled, beat in the egg yolks mixed with cold water.
Fold and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.
Grease a mold with butter and fill it two-thirds full with the mixture.
Bake in a warm oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.
Flavor
Flavor with coffee, lemon, orange, or other essences as desired.
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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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potato starch
- Thickens the milk base into a smooth, stable custard that holds the soufflé's structure.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the base and help it thicken and set as it cools and bakes.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air so the soufflé rises and becomes light.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the starch and yolks thicken.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded flavor.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites whipped to stiff peaks hold the air that makes the soufflé rise. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the mixture and the soufflé will fall flat.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, milk):
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits less well
- Leekfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, milk. 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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