Name: Pineapple Flavor
Ingredients: 1 common-sized pineapple; sugar; 1 gallon of cream

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Pineapple Flavor

Ingredients

1 common-sized pineapple
sugar
1 gallon of cream

Directions

Prepare

Cut the pineapple into slices.
Sprinkle sugar over the slices and cover them.

Macerate and strain

Let it stand overnight.
Strain the mixture.

Finish

Add more sugar if necessary for one gallon of cream.

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.

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.

Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,841 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pineapple + creamtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,574 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pineapple: Provides the main fruit flavour and a bright acidity to the cream.
Sugar: Sweetens the fruit and draws out its juice while it stands.
Cream: Provides fat for richness and a smooth, body-giving texture.