Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Pine-apple Tart
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Line a pie plate with pastry.
Make the filling
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth.
Add the egg yolks and grated pineapple, mixing well.
Stir in the cream.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture gently.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and sprinkle with additional sugar if desired.
Bake and serve
Bake until set and lightly golden.
Allow to cool before serving.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Butter + pineappletop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,134 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, smooth texture to the filling.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the filling as it bakes and add richness.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the filling and help it puff and set.
- Pineapple
- Provides the main flavour and moisture, with natural acidity to balance the sweetness.
- Cream
- Adds fat and softness, giving the filling a smoother, creamier body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that lightens the custard-like filling. Folding gently preserves that air, while vigorous stirring deflates it and leaves a denser, flatter tart.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, 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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