Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Omelettes Soufflees
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Combine egg yolks, powdered sugar, crushed macaroons, crushed candied orange flowers, and salt in a small bowl.
Mix well for a few minutes.
Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form in another bowl.
Gently fold egg whites into yolk mixture.
Cook and shape
Melt butter in an omelette pan over medium heat.
Pour mixture into the pan.
As omelette begins to set, stir gently.
Once it starts to color, fold it over.
Turn it out onto a serving dish.
Fold the ends underneath to create a round shape.
Bake and serve
Place in a preheated moderate oven (350°F/175°C) until it turns a nice yellow color.
Sift sugar over the omelette.
Glaze it with a salamander or broiler.
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.
-
Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Orange + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,301 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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 yolks
- Enriches the batter and adds richness and a yellow color.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air and give the omelette its light, soufflé-like rise.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and dissolves easily into the yolks.
- Macaroons
- Add almond-based sweetness and a crumbly, bitter-almond texture.
- Butter
- Greases the pan and adds fat for flavor and browning on the surface.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites are whipped to stiff peaks to hold air; folding gently keeps that air in, while vigorous stirring deflates the foam and makes the omelette flat and dense.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, 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.
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.