Why it works: Apple and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,501 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the apple base
Cook four apples in a little water, sweeten to taste, and when soft, rub through a fine sieve to make the apple puree.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour, then add the apple puree and cook well, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then add the egg yolks and thick cream, mixing thoroughly.
Bake and serve
Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a well-greased souffle dish lined with oiled paper.
Steam gently for 30 minutes.
Mix the whipped cream with vanilla and a little caster sugar, and serve around the souffle when turned out.
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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Apple + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,501 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vanilla and sugar 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they trap air and give the soufflé its light, risen structure.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the base and help it set into a tender, custard-like texture when cooked.
- Flour
- Cooked with the butter into a roux that thickens the apple base so it holds its shape.
- Butter
- Melted with the flour to form the roux, adding richness and a smooth texture.
- Apple puree
- Provides the main flavour and moisture of the soufflé base.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be whipped to stiff peaks and folded in gently. Stirring or deflating them loses the trapped air, so the soufflé will rise less and turn out dense.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg, cream, vanilla, sugar):
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg, cream, vanilla, 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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