Why it works: Pineapple and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,664 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓
Maraschino Pineapple
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Blanch the pineapple cubes in boiling water for 15 minutes, then drain.
Place the pineapple in cooling pans and cover with granulated sugar.
Use ½ pound of sugar for each pound of fruit and let it sit for 12 to 15 hours.
Drain the syrup and filter it through coarse cheesecloth.
Make the syrup
In a kettle, combine the syrup with 2 pounds of sugar per gallon and cook to 28 degrees on Beaume's saccharometer.
Cool the syrup to 150°F (65°C) or 180°F (82°C).
Add the apple brandy (or alcohol and distilled water), orange flower water, and liquid citric acid.
Process
Process 12 to 16 ounce jars for 45 minutes at 190°F (88°C) and ½ gallon jars for 1 hour at 190°F (88°C).
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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Pineapple + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,664 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pineapple + syruptop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together568 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Pineapple
- Supplies the fruit that is preserved and becomes tender and candied during soaking and processing.
- Granulated sugar
- Draws water out of the fruit and forms the thick syrup that preserves it and gives sweetness.
- Apple brandy
- Adds alcohol that helps preserve the fruit and contributes aroma.
- Orange flower water
- Adds a floral aroma to the finished fruit.
- Citric acid
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and balances the syrup.
The step that matters
Cool the syrup before adding the alcohol. Alcohol is volatile and can evaporate or lose its aroma when added to very hot syrup, so the syrup should be cooled to the stated range first.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, sugar, syrup, apple brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Applefits better
- Peachfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, sugar, syrup, apple brandy. 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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