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Cheese Souffle

A baked cheese soufflé made with Parmesan, butter, flour, egg whites, yolk, milk, cayenne pepper, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Cheese Souffle

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

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

  2. Grease a soufflé dish with clarified butter.

  3. Wrap a thick piece of paper around the dish for support.

Make the base

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in the flour.

  2. Add the milk and bring to a boil.

  3. Remove from heat.

  4. Mix in the egg yolk, then stir in the cheese.

  5. Season with cayenne and salt.

Bake and serve

  1. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  2. Gently fold the egg whites into the cheese mixture.

  3. Pour the mixture into the prepared soufflé dish.

  4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

  5. Serve immediately in the dish, wrapped in a warmed napkin if needed.

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 + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Parmesan cheese + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,163 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Parmesan cheese + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,322 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour 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 create the airy structure that lifts the soufflé as it bakes.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory flavor and fat, and helps the set custard firm slightly as it cools.
Butter
Enriches the base and, with flour, forms a roux that thickens the milk.
Flour
Thickens the butter and milk into a stable béchamel base that holds the risen structure.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the roux thickens into a smooth sauce.

The step that matters

Folding the egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air trapped in the whipped whites. Overmixing deflates the batter, so the soufflé rises less in the oven.

“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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