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Dessert

Cranberry Ice

A frozen dessert made from cranberries, orange juice, pineapple juice, sugar, and egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Cranberry Ice

Why it works: Orange and pineapple 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 ↓

Cranberry Ice

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the juice

  1. Scald the cranberries until they pop and mash easily.

  2. Squeeze and strain the cranberries to extract the juice.

  3. Add the juice of the oranges and pineapple to the cranberry juice.

Freeze and serve

  1. Mix in the sugar and beaten egg whites.

  2. Freeze the mixture until solid.

  3. Serve in sherbet cups, garnished with clove pinks or holly berries.

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.

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.

  1. Orange + pineappletop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,841 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Pineapple + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Orange and sugar 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

Cranberries
Provide the main tart flavor and color, and their juice forms the base of the ice.
Sugar
Sweetens the tart juice and lowers the freezing point so the ice stays softer.
Egg whites
Whipped foam adds lightness and a smoother, airier texture to the frozen mixture.
Pineapple juice
Adds extra fruit acidity and sweetness to balance the cranberry tartness.

The step that matters

Mix in the sugar and beaten egg whites. Sugar dissolves into the juice and lowers its freezing point, while beaten egg whites trap air for lightness. Adding them to a cold or unbeaten mixture can leave the ice dense and grainy.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, sugar, egg):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Bananafits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, sugar, egg. 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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