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Fondu a LA Creme

A baked soufflé made from egg yolks, flour, cream, butter, Gruyère and Parmesan, with whipped egg whites folded in.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parmesan cheese and gruyere cheese match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 152 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Fondu a LA Creme

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.

Make the base

  1. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks with the flour and potato flour.

  2. Pour in the cream.

  3. Add the butter cut into small pieces.

  4. Place the mixture in a saucepan over low heat and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.

  5. Remove from heat.

  6. Add the shredded Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses.

  7. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Bake and serve

  1. Beat 2 egg whites until stiff.

  2. Gently fold the egg whites into the mixture.

  3. Pour the mixture into a soufflé dish.

  4. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 20 minutes.

  5. Serve immediately.

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. Parmesan cheese + gruyere cheesetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together152 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Butter + parmesan cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Butter + gruyere cheesetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together323 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the base and whipped whites give the soufflé its rise and airy structure.
Flour
Flour thickens the base so it can hold the whipped whites without collapsing.
Potato flour
Potato flour adds extra thickening to the base, giving a smooth, stable texture.
Thick cream
Cream adds moisture and richness, producing a softer, more tender interior.
Butter
Butter adds fat, richness and flavour to the base.
Gruyere cheese
Gruyère melts into the base, adding savoury flavour and a creamy texture.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whites hold air only when whipped to stiff peaks. Folding gently preserves those bubbles; stirring or deflating them makes the soufflé fall and bake dense.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, cream, butter, parmesan cheese, gruyere cheese, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits about as well
  2. Potatothe original
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, cream, butter, parmesan cheese, gruyere cheese, pepper. 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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