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Souffle Aux Amandes Pralinees

A light soufflé flavored with burnt almonds and vanilla, baked in a buttered mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Souffle Aux Amandes Pralinees

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Dissolve half the sugar with a few drops of water in a saucepan and stir until light brown.

  2. Pour in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.

  3. Melt the butter in another saucepan.

  4. Stir in the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon.

  5. Gradually add the prepared milk to the flour mixture, stirring until smooth.

  6. Mix in the remaining sugar.

  7. Pound the almonds until fine, then add to the mixture.

  8. Allow to cool slightly.

Finish and bake

  1. Stir in the yolks of the eggs one at a time and add the vanilla essence.

  2. Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks.

  3. Fold the egg whites into the mixture.

  4. Pour into a well-buttered soufflé mold with a buttered paper band around the edge.

  5. Steam for about 40 minutes.

  6. Unmold onto a hot dish and serve with a sweet sauce.

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 + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla 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

Eggs
Yolks enrich the base and whites, whisked to stiff peaks and folded in, lift the soufflé.
Butter
Fat that enriches the flour base and adds a smooth, rich texture.
Vienna flour
Starch that thickens the milk mixture into a base that holds the soufflé's structure.
Milk
Liquid that, with the flour, forms the thick base and adds moisture.
Burnt almonds
Caramelised almond flavour and nutty aroma that give the soufflé its character.
Castor sugar
Sweetens the base and, caramelised at the start, adds colour and toasty flavour.

The step that matters

Whisking and folding the egg whites. Stiff peaks trap air that makes the soufflé rise; overmixing when folding deflates the foam, so fold gently until just combined.

“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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