Why it works: Pineapple and sherry work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 228 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓
Pineapple Sponge
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Combine grated pineapple, dissolved gelatin in lemon juice and a little water, and sugar in a saucepan.
Stir until well mixed and sugar is melted.
Add sherry and let the mixture cool slightly.
Set and serve
Whip the egg white to a froth and fold it into the mixture until firm.
Pour the mixture into a mold and refrigerate until set.
Garnish with sweetened whipped cream flavored with pineapple essence before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + sherrytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together228 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Pineapple + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + sherrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid mixture into a firm, sliceable sponge as it cools.
- Egg white
- Whipped to a foam, it lightens the mixture and gives the sponge its airy texture.
- Grated pineapple
- Supplies the main pineapple flavor and moisture to the sponge.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and helps balance the tartness of the pineapple and lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the pineapple flavor and helps balance sweetness.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg white. Egg white must be whipped to a froth but folded gently into a mixture that has cooled slightly. If the mixture is too hot, it can deflate the foam or cook the egg white, and overmixing knocks out the air that gives the sponge its lightness.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, sugar, sherry, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, sugar, sherry, egg, cream. 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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