Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cottage Souffle
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and butter a tin cake pan.
Sift enough flour to fill a coffee cup without pressing it down.
Make the batter
Beat the butter and sugar until creamy, then add the vanilla or lemon extract.
Beat the egg and gradually mix in the cold water until light.
Combine the egg mixture with the butter and sugar.
Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture and beat thoroughly for three minutes.
Rapidly mix in the boiling water.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into the buttered pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the top is brown.
Turn the souffle out onto a platter or plate and serve hot with hard or liquid sauce.
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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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vanilla + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Egg proteins and beaten air give the light, sponge-like structure of the souffle.
- All-purpose flour
- Flour provides the main structure that holds the risen batter once it sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the souffle rise and become light.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, and helps browning on the top.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the souffle and helps the top brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Rapidly mix in the boiling water. The batter must be folded in quickly once the boiling water is added, because the baking powder begins releasing gas right away and waiting lets the rise weaken before baking.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillathe original
- Figfits less well
- Lemonfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, flour. 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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