Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓
Souffle
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.
Make the base
Bring 1½ cups of milk or cream to a boil in a saucepan.
Mix 4 ounces of rice flour with a little milk to form a smooth batter.
Stir the batter into the boiling milk and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring.
Add 2 ounces of butter, 1½ ounces of powdered sugar, and grated lemon rind; mix well.
Remove from heat and quickly beat in the egg yolks.
Bake and serve
Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture gently.
Pour the mixture into a buttered pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30–45 minutes, keeping the oven door closed for the first 15 minutes.
Serve immediately when risen and golden.
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 + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,374 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air that makes the soufflé rise, and yolks enrich the base.
- Rice flour
- Cooked into the hot milk, it thickens the base to hold the risen structure.
- Milk or cream
- Forms the liquid base, adding moisture and richness to the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a rich, tender texture and flavour.
The step that matters
Fold the whites gently. Whisked egg whites hold air bubbles that lift the soufflé. Vigorous stirring deflates them, so the mixture will not rise well in the oven.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, rice, flour, butter, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, rice, flour, butter, sugar, 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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