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 Snow
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Grate the fresh pineapple or chop the canned pineapple finely and stew until tender.
Soak the gelatin in cold water for 1 hour.
Measure the pineapple; if you have 1 pint, use ½ cup boiling water to dissolve the gelatin. If less, make up the difference with hot water.
Pour the boiling water over the soaked gelatin and stir until dissolved.
Add the sugar, grated pineapple, and sherry. Strain if using canned pineapple.
Set and serve
Set the mixture on ice until nearly stiff.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.
Pour into a mold and refrigerate until set.
Turn out and serve with cream.
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 + sherrytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together228 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Gelatin + creamtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,628 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,778 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, 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 + gelatintop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together282 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatin
- Sets the liquid into a wobbly, sliceable structure as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiffness, they add a light, airy texture to the set mixture.
- Pineapple
- Provides the main fruit flavor and acidity, and its fresh or canned form affects preparation.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the pineapple.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. If the mixture is too warm or not nearly stiff when the whites are folded in, the foam can deflate and the gelatin may not set airy. Chilling until nearly stiff first helps the whites hold their volume.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, sugar, sherry, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits about as well
- Pineapplethe original
- Raspberryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, 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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