Why it works: Nutmeg and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Apple Souffle Pudding
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 apples
Pare, core, and slice the apples, then stew them in a covered double saucepan without any water until tender.
Mash the apples to a smooth pulp, then stir in the butter and sugar while hot.
Let the mixture cool completely.
Make the batter
Whip in the egg yolks and the stiffly beaten egg whites alternately with the breadcrumbs.
Flavor the mixture. Beat quickly for three minutes until it becomes a creamy batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into a buttered dish and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about one hour.
Keep the dish covered until ten minutes before removing it from the oven to retain juices and prevent a crust from forming.
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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Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Apple + nutmegtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,790 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Apple + buttertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,706 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the main body and moisture, becoming a smooth pulp that forms the pudding base.
- Eggs
- Egg whites add lightness and rise, while yolks enrich the batter and help it set.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb moisture and give the batter body so it holds together when baked.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to a tender texture and flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps soften the apple pulp.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them in gently. Stiffly beaten whites trap air that expands in the oven to lighten the pudding. Overbeating the batter after adding them deflates that air, so the result is denser and less souffle-like.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, nutmeg, lemon):
- Vanillafits better
- Orangefits better
- Figfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, nutmeg, lemon. 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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