Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Small Sugar Souffles
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Whisk the egg white to a very firm froth.
Gradually add the sifted sugar and mix until well combined.
Dust your fingers with a little sifted sugar and roll the mixture into small balls, about the size of a nut.
Place the balls in small round paper cases, plaiting the edges with a knife.
Lightly moisten the tops with a finger or a pastry brush dipped in cold water.
Bake and serve
Bake in a gentle oven at 300°F (150°C) for 16 to 30 minutes, checking for firmness.
Remove from the oven when firm to the touch.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg white
- Whisked into a firm froth, it traps air that gives the souffles their light, airy structure.
- Sifted sugar
- Stabilises the whisked foam and adds sweetness, giving the souffles body and a tender set.
The step that matters
Whisking the egg white to a very firm froth. Egg white foam supplies all the lift in these souffles. If it is under-whisked it will hold little air and the souffles will be dense, while sugar added too early or too quickly can collapse it, so it must be stiff before the sugar goes in.
“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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