Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Prune Soueele
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 prunes
Boil the prunes until soft.
Once cool, remove the stones and cut the prunes into small pieces.
Make the mixture
In a bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the powdered sugar.
Fold the prunes into the egg mixture.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a pudding dish and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Serve with whipped cream.
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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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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 whites
- Whipped into stiff foam that gives the soufflé-like dish its light, airy structure.
- Prunes
- Provide moisture, sweetness and fruity flavour through the mixture.
- Powdered sugar
- Stabilises the whipped egg whites and sweetens the mixture as it is added gradually.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be beaten until they hold stiff peaks, because the foam provides the lift that keeps the baked dish light. Under-whipped whites will collapse and make the dish dense.
“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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