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 ↓
Souffle a LA Vanille
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.
Prepare the crust
Line a raised pie mold with pastry dough.
Fill the crust with bread crumbs.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until light brown, about 1 hour.
Remove bread crumbs without taking the crust out of the mold.
Tie a band of buttered paper around the top. Set aside.
Make the custard
In a saucepan, mix butter and flour without melting the butter.
Bring milk to a boil with vanilla sticks. Cover and let cool slightly.
Remove vanilla sticks.
Pour the milk into the butter and flour mixture, stirring over heat for 5 minutes.
Quickly stir in egg yolks and sugar until combined. Let the mixture cool.
Bake and serve
Whip egg whites until stiff.
Fold the egg whites into the mixture gently.
Pour the mixture into the prepared crust.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour. If it browns too quickly, open the oven door to slow down cooking.
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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Butter + milktop 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help set the custard as it bakes.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the mixture and give the soufflé its rise.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth base that holds the whipped egg whites.
- Butter
- Enriches the base and adds flavor when cooked with the flour.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the custard, which sets as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the custard brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whites hold air only while whipped. Folding gently keeps that air in the mixture, so the soufflé rises. Stirring hard deflates it and it will not rise well.
Swap the vanilla
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, milk, egg, sugar):
- Vanillathe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Figfits less well
- Coconutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, milk, egg, 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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