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 ↓
Pine-apple Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Pare and cut out the eyes from the pineapples.
Grate the pineapples and pass the pulp through a colander.
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine the pineapple pulp with sugar and water.
Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks and gradually add to the mixture, beating well to combine.
Freeze
Freeze the mixture until solid.
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).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pineapple + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,075 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
- Provide the main flavour and the pulp that gives the ice its body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the ice and lowers its freezing point so it stays softer when frozen.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add airy lightness and a smoother texture to the frozen mixture.
The step that matters
Whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Egg whites must be beaten until stiff, then folded in gently but thoroughly. Well-whipped foam traps air, which keeps the frozen ice light and prevents it from freezing into a dense, icy block.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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