Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Pouding Souffle Aux Pommes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the apples
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Peel and core the apples, then slice them thinly.
In a saucepan, melt butter and sauté the apples until soft.
Make the batter
In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add flour, milk, and vanilla extract to the egg mixture, and mix well.
Fold in the sautéed apples gently.
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for 30-40 minutes until puffed and golden.
Serve warm.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Apple + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,501 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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
- Beaten with sugar to trap air, giving the soufflé its light, lofty structure as it bakes.
- Flour
- Gives the batter body so it holds its shape around the air and fruit.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the apples soften and brown in the pan.
- Apples
- Provide the fruit flavor and moisture, softened first so they blend evenly into the batter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the egg foam hold its volume.
The step that matters
Fold in the sautéed apples gently. Folding keeps the air bubbles in the beaten eggs intact. Stirring vigorously would deflate the foam, so the soufflé would rise less and bake up denser.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, flour, milk, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, flour, milk, vanilla. 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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