Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓
Cheese Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the base
In a saucepan, melt the butter and flour together.
Pour in the milk and stir until smooth and thick.
Season with salt and white pepper, then mix in the grated cheese.
Remove from heat and beat in the egg yolks.
Fold and bake
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.
Half fill a greased pudding dish with the mixture.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden brown.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,962 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + cheesetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Whipped to hold air, they make the soufflé rise and give it a light texture.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help set the base as it bakes into a custard-like structure.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and milk into a smooth white sauce that holds the cheese and eggs.
- Grated cheese
- Adds savory flavor and fat, and helps give the base its body.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, providing moisture for the soufflé.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites.. Folding keeps the air bubbles in the whites intact. Stirring or deflating them makes the soufflé rise less and turn dense.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, cheese, egg):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Capersfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, cheese, 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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