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 ↓
Nut Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Make the gelatine
Pour 2 quarts of cold water over the gelatine and heat until dissolved.
Drain the juice from the pineapple and add 1½ cups of sugar to the gelatine mixture, then heat again.
Set the mixture aside to cool.
Assemble and chill
Chop the pineapple finely and add 1½ cups of chopped nuts.
When the gelatine begins to set, mix it with the nuts and whipped cream using a silver fork.
Keep the salad in a cool place; it will last several days.
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.
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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 + nutstop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together162 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Nuts + creamtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together886 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pineapple + creamtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable structure as it cools.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the gelatine mixture and balances the fruit.
- Pineapple
- Adds fruity flavour and moisture to the salad.
- Chopped nuts
- Add crunch and texture that contrasts with the soft set.
- Whipped sweet cream
- Adds lightness and richness, making the set softer and creamier.
The step that matters
Mixing in the nuts and cream at the right point of setting. If the gelatine is still liquid, the nuts and fruit sink and the cream deflates; if it is fully set, the cream cannot be folded in evenly. Mix once it has thickened but is still soft.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, nuts, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Coconutfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, nuts, 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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