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 Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Butter a pudding dish and line the bottom and sides with slices of stale sponge cake.
Pare and thinly slice the pineapple.
Assemble
Layer the pineapple in the dish, sprinkling sugar between layers until all is used.
Pour ½ cup of water over the layers.
Cover with slices of cake dipped in cold water.
Bake
Cover with a buttered plate and bake at 300°F (150°C) for two hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
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
- Stale sponge cake
- Forms the soft base and sides that soak up the pineapple juices as they bake.
- Pineapple
- Releases juice that moistens the cake and adds bright, fruity acidity.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps draw out its juices.
The step that matters
Cover with a buttered plate and bake. The covered dish traps steam, so the pineapple softens and the cake becomes moist without drying out. Uncovered, the top can dry or brown before the fruit is tender.
“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.
More pineapple pudding recipes
You might also like
Pineapple Sherbet116 recipes
Pineapple Cream58 recipes
Pineapple Jelly39 recipes
Pineapple Sponge Cake38 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.