Why it works: Parmesan cheese and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,608 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Cream-crust Soufflé
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roll out the cream-crust lightly and mix in the cheese.
Cut the pastry into small rounds using a pastry cutter.
Mix the egg yolk with a little milk and brush it over the pastry rounds.
Bake and serve
Bake for about 15 minutes until golden and puffed.
Serve very hot.
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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Parmesan cheese + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,608 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Cream + parmesan cheesetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,566 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
-
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Parmesan cheese + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,368 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream-crust pastry
- Forms the flaky, layered base that puffs and crisps when baked.
- Parmesan cheese
- Adds savoury flavour and a rich, salty taste to the pastry.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on top to promote a glossy, golden browned surface.
The step that matters
Brushing the egg wash. Egg yolk browns and glazes the surface in the oven. Too much liquid or pooling can weigh down the pastry and stop it rising evenly, so brush lightly.
“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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