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 Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine grated pineapple, water, sugar, egg yolks, and cornstarch.
Pour the mixture into a pie dish lined with crust.
Bake for 30 minutes.
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
- Grated pineapple
- Supplies the fruit, moisture and tart flavour of the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and balances the pineapple's tartness.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help thicken the filling as they set with heat.
- Cornstarch
- Thickens the juicy filling so it sets rather than running when cut.
The step that matters
Bake until the filling sets. Cornstarch thickens only when heated, and egg yolks set as they warm. Underbaking leaves a runny filling, so the pie needs enough heat to thicken fully.
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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