Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Vanilla Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Stir in the flour, then gradually add the milk, cooking while stirring until thickened.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly, then beat in the yolks of 3 eggs and the sugar.
Add the vanilla essence and mix well.
Fold, bake and serve
In a separate bowl, beat the whites of 4 eggs to stiff peaks and gently fold them into the mixture.
Prepare a well-buttered souffle tin and tie a band of buttered paper around the outside, extending 3 inches above the top.
Pour the souffle mixture into the tin and cover with greased paper to prevent condensation.
Steam for 30 minutes, then turn out and serve immediately with vanilla or raspberry 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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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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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Vanilla + sugartop 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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Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,241 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Vanilla and sugar 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid body of the base, thickened by the flour and cooked until smooth.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a stable base that can hold the folded whites.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich the base, while whipped whites lift the soufflé with trapped air.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture in the base.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the base and adds body to the mixture.
- Vanilla essence
- Adds aroma and flavor to the custard base.
The step that matters
Folding in the whites. Whites beaten to stiff peaks hold the soufflé's air. Folding gently keeps that air in, so the soufflé rises light instead of collapsing and turning dense.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, butter, flour, sugar):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, butter, flour, sugar. 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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