Why it works: Arrowroot and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 242 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Baked Arrowroot 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.
Make the base
Mix the arrowroot with a little cold milk.
Boil the remaining milk; when boiling, pour it over the arrowroot.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and boil until it pulls away from the sides. Stir continuously to prevent burning.
Add the sugar and flavouring.
Beat each egg yolk into the mixture separately.
Bake and serve
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture gently.
Pour the mixture into a lightly greased pie dish.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 30 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a knife in the center; it should come out clean.
Clean the edges of the dish, sprinkle with caster sugar, and 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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Arrowroot + vanillatop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together242 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Arrowroot + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together817 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and vanilla 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
- Arrowroot
- Thickens the milk into a smooth base that holds the soufflé together.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich the base, and whipped whites lift the soufflé as it bakes.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base that the arrowroot thickens into a custard.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the base and adds flavour to the finished soufflé.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites beaten until stiff trap air that makes the soufflé rise. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the mixture and the soufflé will not rise well.
Swap the arrowroot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg, vanilla):
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Arrowrootthe original
- Capsicumfits less well
- Asparagusfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, egg, vanilla. 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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