Name: Prune Souffle
Ingredients: 1 lb prunes; 4 oz castor sugar; 1 oz flour; 1 oz butter; 1 oz blanched and shredded almonds; 1 lemon; 3 eggs

Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Prune Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the prunes

Wash the prunes and soak them in cold water for 3 to 4 hours.
Place the prunes in a jar with the lemon rind and a little cold water, then cook until tender.
Once cooled, remove the stones and cut the prunes into small pieces.

Make the base

Cream the egg yolks and sugar together, then stir in the flour.
Add half of the blanched and shredded almonds, 1 teaspoon of lemon juice, and the prunes, mixing well.
Whisk the egg whites to a stiff froth and gently fold half into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a buttered souffle dish.

Bake and serve

Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about 15 minutes.
Top with the remaining egg whites, dredge with castor sugar, and scatter the almonds.
Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, then serve hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,655 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

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

Prunes: Provide the main fruit flavour and moisture, sweetened by their natural sugars.
Eggs: Whipped whites give the soufflé its light, risen structure; yolks enrich the base.
Flour: Gives the base body so it holds the risen egg foam after baking.
Butter: Greases the dish so the soufflé releases cleanly and browns at the edges.
Almonds: Add nutty flavour and a crisp, toasted-looking topping as they bake.
Castor sugar: Sweetens the base and, dredged on top, caramelises lightly in the oven.