Why it works: Apple and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,104 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
Apple Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the apple base
Peel, chop, and stew the apples with the sugar and lemon juice until they become a pulp.
Beat the apples until smooth and return them to the saucepan.
Smooth the cornflour with the milk and mix it with the apples, stirring until it boils.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl to cool.
Assemble the souffle
Separate the yolks from the whites of the eggs; beat the yolks and mix them with the apple mixture.
Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.
Pour the entire mixture into a buttered souffle dish.
Bake and serve
Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (175°C) and serve immediately.
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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Apple + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,104 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Whites trapped in the mixture set on baking, giving the souffle its lift and airy structure.
- Apples
- Provide the main body, moisture and tart flavour of the souffle base.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the apple base and balances the tartness of the apples.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the apple base so it can hold the whipped whites without collapsing.
- Milk
- Loosens the cornflour and adds richness and softness to the base.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites must be whipped to stiff peaks and folded in gently. Overmixing deflates the air bubbles, so the souffle rises less and turns dense.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, lemon. 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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