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 Glace
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Stand pineapple slices upright in a sunny, airy place until the surface dries.
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine sugar, water, and paraffin. Boil without stirring until the syrup threads from a spoon.
Coat and dry the slices
Run a wire through each pineapple slice, twisting the ends to form a loop.
Dip each slice into the syrup, then hang to drain over a dish to catch drippings.
Ensure the slices do not touch and let them dry in the wind.
Finish and store
Once dry and cold, layer the slices in granulated sugar.
Store the remaining syrup tightly covered for future use.
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.
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
- Pineapple
- Provides the fruit that is coated and candied, supplying its own flavor and juiciness.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and forms the syrup that hardens into a crisp, sugary coating as it dries.
- Paraffin
- Helps the cooled syrup set into a firm, glossy coating rather than staying tacky.
The step that matters
Boil the syrup to the thread stage. Sugar syrup sets according to how far it has been concentrated by boiling. If it is not boiled far enough, the coating stays sticky and will not dry; if boiled too far, it becomes hard and brittle. Stirring can cause crystals to form, so it is left alone.
“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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