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Potato Souffle

A baked potato dish folded with beaten egg whites for a light, airy texture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Potato Souffle

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make the souffle

  1. In a bowl, beat the mashed potatoes and melted butter until smooth and light.

  2. Add the cream, egg yolks, salt, and pepper, and mix well.

  3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the potato mixture.

Bake

  1. Heap the mixture onto a baking sheet in a rough mound or transfer to a baking dish.

  2. Bake until well browned, about 20-25 minutes.

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + cheesetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,962 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Potato + cheesetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together959 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks trap air, giving the souffle its light, risen structure.
Mashed potato
Provides the bulk and body of the mixture that holds the folded-in air.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, softening the texture and carrying flavour.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the mixture soft and smooth.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Stiff egg whites hold the air that makes the souffle rise. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the whites and the souffle turns dense.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream, egg, pepper, cheese):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Asparagusfits about as well
  4. Spinachfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream, egg, pepper, cheese. 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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