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Souffles, Omlets, Etc

A light potato flour souffle made with milk, cream, butter, sugar, citron zest, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Souffles, Omlets, Etc

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the base

  1. Blend the potato flour with the milk in a bowl until smooth.

  2. Pour the boiling cream into the mixture and stir until thickened.

  3. Add the salt, melted butter, and sugar rubbed on the citron zest.

  4. Gradually mix in the whisked egg yolks.

Fold and bake

  1. Beat the egg whites until firm peaks form, then gently fold them into the mixture.

  2. Fill a souffle pan less than half full and place it in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C).

  3. Close the oven door and do not open it for 15 to 20 minutes.

  4. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the souffle is set and lightly browned.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

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

  5. Potato + orangetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together537 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Potato flour
Thickens the base into a smooth, stable custard that holds the rising mixture.
Eggs
Yolks enrich and set the base, while whipped whites lift the souffle as it bakes.
Heavy cream
Adds richness and a soft, tender texture to the base.
Unsalted butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the base and helps the citron zest flavor carry through.

The step that matters

Fold in the egg whites gently. Whites hold air only when whipped to firm peaks; overmixing deflates the foam, so the souffle loses its lift and bakes dense.

Swap the orange

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

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

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