Name: Pineapple Cream
Ingredients: 1 quart of cream; 1 lemon; 2½ cups of sugar; 1 large pineapple

Why it works: Cream and sugar 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 Cream

Ingredients

1 quart of cream
1 lemon
2½ cups of sugar
1 large pineapple

Directions

Make the cream base

Scald ½ quart of cream and 1¼ cups of sugar.
Let the mixture cool.

Prepare the pineapple

Peel the pineapple, remove the eyes and remove the core.
Cut the pineapple lengthwise.
Grate the pineapple.
Mix the grated pineapple with the remaining sugar and lemon juice until dissolved.

Freeze and serve

Freeze the cream mixture.
Add the pineapple to the mixture.
Mix well before serving.

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.

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.

Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Lemon + pineappletop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + pineappletop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,841 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,574 recipes

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

Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Cream: Provides richness and a smooth, creamy texture as it freezes.
Sugar: Sweetens the dish and lowers the freezing point, keeping the texture soft.
Pineapple: Adds fruit flavour and acidity, along with moisture that contributes to the texture.
Lemon: Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and balances the flavour.