Name: Pineapple and Cocoanut Cream
Ingredients: 1 quart cream; 1 cup sugar; one quart milk; one-half cup sugar; one pint whipped cream; one cup preserved gin- ger cut very fine; 1 grated cocoanut; three eggs; salt

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Pineapple and Cocoanut Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

Grate coconut and mix with milk. Add 1 quart cream.
Add 1 cup sugar and 1 can pineapple cut fine.
Put coconut milk and pineapple juice on fire with cup sugar and let dissolve. When cool add cream. When partly frozen add pineapple and coconut.

Make the custard

Scald one quart milk with two tablespoons flour or corn starch and one-half cup sugar, stirring into hot milk.
Stir constantly until mixture thickens, then let cool, stirring occasionally for ten minutes.
Beat three eggs, add a few grains salt and one-half cup sugar. Mix well.
Add a little of the hot mixture, and when well blended stir into it the rest of the mixture.
Stir and cook until the eggs seem "set," then strain.

Freeze and ripen

When cold, add one pint whipped cream and begin to freeze.
When nearly frozen, add one cup preserved ginger cut very fine and mixed with cup of white grape juice.
Finish freezing and let stand an hour or more to ripen.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

327Calories

15 gProtein

19 gFat

26 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Elizabeth Lyles Wilson (1860–1924). 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. See the original page.

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Cream + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,399 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + gintop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together344 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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: Thicken the custard and add richness as they set when cooked gently.
Cream: Adds fat for a rich, smooth texture that stays creamy when frozen.
Whipped cream: Adds air and fat, keeping the frozen dessert light and smooth.
Flour or corn starch (in the method): Thickens the milk mixture as it heats, giving body to the custard.
Coconut (in the method): Adds moisture, fat and a distinct tropical flavor.
Sugar: Sweetens the dish and lowers the freezing point, keeping it soft.

The step that matters

Cook the eggs until set, then strain. Eggs curdle if overheated, so cook gently while stirring until they thicken the custard. Straining removes any small lumps of cooked egg, leaving a smooth texture.

“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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Pineapple and Cocoanut Cream