Why it works: Pineapple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,841 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pineapple Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Peel and remove the eyes from the pineapples, then grate them.
Combine the grated pineapple with ½ pound of sugar and let it sit for 2-3 hours.
Place the mixture in a porcelain-lined pot and heat slowly until it approaches boiling, then simmer until the fruit is tender.
Set a jelly bag over an earthen bowl and pour the hot pineapple mixture into it, allowing the juice to drain without pressing the bag.
Let the juice drain overnight.
Make the jelly
For each pint of juice, add ½ pound of sugar and boil gently, skimming off any scum.
After about 15 minutes, test a small amount on a saucer to see if it hardens; if not, continue boiling and test again.
Once the jelly hardens upon cooling, remove it from the heat and let it cool to lukewarm.
Pour the jelly into glasses and let it cool completely.
Seal and store
Cover each glass with a piece of white paper dipped in brandy, then seal with a piece of paper dipped in beaten egg white to exclude air.
Store the jelly in a cool, dark, dry place.
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 + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pineapples
- Provides the fruit flavor and the pectin-bearing pulp that gives the jelly its body.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and, with the cooking, helps it set into a firm gel.
The step that matters
Testing for set on a saucer. Sugar must be concentrated enough, and the jelly boiled long enough, for pectin and acid to form a gel. Under-boiling leaves it runny; over-boiling can make it stiff or candied. Testing a cooled spoonful shows whether it has reached the setting point.
“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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