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 ↓
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.
Make the base
Mix 4 ounces of rice flour with ½ cup of milk or cream to form a smooth batter.
In a saucepan, bring the remaining milk or cream to a boil.
Stir the rice batter into the boiling milk, simmer for 10 minutes while stirring continuously.
Add 2 ounces of butter, 1½ ounces of sugar, and the grated lemon rind; mix well.
Remove from heat and gradually beat in the yolks of 6 eggs.
Bake and serve
Whisk the egg whites to a firm froth and gently fold them into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a buttered pan and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 30‑45 minutes, keeping the oven door closed for the first 15 minutes.
Serve immediately when risen and golden.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Egg whites
- Whisked to a firm froth, they trap air that lifts the soufflé as it bakes.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the base and add richness and structure as they set with the starch.
- Rice flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth base that holds the risen mixture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and flavour.
- Milk or cream
- Forms the liquid body of the base, adding moisture and richness.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be whisked to a firm froth and folded gently. Overmixing knocks out the trapped air, so the soufflé rises less and turns dense.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, rice, flour, butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, rice, flour, 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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