Name: Prune Souffle
Ingredients: 1 ½ lb prunes; 2 tablespoons cold water; ⅓ cup sugar; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; 4 egg whites

Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Prune Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the prune purée

Prepare prunes using a double boiler until tender.
Press the pulp through a sieve.
Add sugar and cook for 5 minutes.
Cool, then add lemon juice.

Make the soufflé

Beat egg whites until stiff.
Beat in the prune mixture gradually.
Pile the mixture in a buttered baking dish.

Bake and serve

Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 30 to 40 minutes.
Test with a knitting needle.
Serve hot or cold with cream or custard sauce.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together44,316 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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

Prunes: Provide the main body, sweetness and fruity flavour of the soufflé.
Egg whites: Whipped to foam, they trap air and give the soufflé its light, risen structure.
Sugar: Sweetens the prune pulp and helps stabilise the whipped egg white foam.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens the prune flavour and helps stabilise the egg white foam.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites until stiff. Whites must form a firm foam to trap air, which makes the soufflé rise. Under-beaten whites collapse, and any fat or yolk residue in the bowl prevents them from reaching full volume. Folding the prune mixture in gently, rather than beating it hard, keeps that trapped air intact.