Why it works: Pear and cranberry share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 25 recipes mention both. Both carry anethole, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 8Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: cream
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Combine the pears, cranberries, orange zest, sugar, cranberry juice, water and corn syrup in a large saucepan.
Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pears and cranberries are very soft, about 14 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes.
Puree until smooth in a blender, then pass through a fine sieve to remove skins. Stir in the Cointreau if using. Chill in the refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours.
Churn the chilled mixture in an ice cream maker until thick and scoopable, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer to a freezer container and freeze at least 4 hours until firm. Serve cold.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pear + cranberrytop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together25 recipes
Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).
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Orange + cranberrytop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together230 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Sugar + syruptop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together5,841 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pear + orangetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together320 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Orange + corntop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together586 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pear, sugar, cranberry, corn, syrup):
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Applebetter flavor fit
- Peachbetter flavor fit
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pear, sugar, cranberry, corn, syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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