Why it works: Butter and milk 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 Au Chocolat
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
Beat the egg yolks with potato flour and butter until smooth.
In a saucepan, melt chocolate in milk and stir in sugar until combined.
Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and mix well.
Cook gently over low heat for one minute, then let cool.
Bake and serve
Fold in the additional egg yolks and beaten egg whites carefully.
Butter a deep dish and pour in the mixture.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about twenty minutes until risen.
Sprinkle sugar on top and serve immediately.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into foam that traps air, lifting the soufflé as it rises and sets.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the base and help set the structure as the mixture cooks.
- Potato flour
- Thickens the base so it can hold the whipped egg white foam.
- Chocolate
- Provides the main flavor and richness of the soufflé.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid to melt the chocolate and form the base.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving a smoother, softer texture.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Egg whites hold air only when whipped; folding gently keeps that air in the mixture. Overmixing deflates the foam, so the soufflé will not rise well.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, potato, flour, butter, milk, chocolate, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, potato, flour, butter, milk, chocolate, 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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