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Dessert

Imperial Souffle

A baked almond and lemon soufflé with a breadcrumb‑coated mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and flour 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 ↓

Imperial 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 batter

  1. Slightly warm the butter and beat it until creamy.

  2. Gradually beat in the egg yolks and cream until well combined.

  3. Blanch and cut the almonds into thin strips.

  4. Mix the almonds and lemon peel with the flour and sugar.

  5. Slowly pour the beaten mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring to keep it smooth.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter the interior of a soufflé mold and coat it with breadcrumbs.

  2. Pour the mixture into the mold and cover it with buttered paper.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until cooked.

  4. Serve the soufflé on a stand garnished with sweet biscuits or confectionery.

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.

  1. Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Adds richness and a creamy, tender texture to the batter.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the batter so it sets smoothly when baked.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the baked soufflé tender.
Almonds
Add nutty flavour and a delicate crunch to the soufflé.
Flour
Gives the batter body so it holds its structure while baking.

The step that matters

Slowly pour the beaten mixture into the dry ingredients. Adding the wet mixture slowly while stirring keeps it smooth and prevents lumps, so the batter bakes evenly with a uniform texture.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, cream, almond, flour, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Coconutfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, cream, almond, flour, sugar. 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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