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Pineapple Jelly

A gelatinous dessert made from pineapple, sugar, water, isinglass, rum, and optional burnt sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Pineapple Jelly

Why it works: Pineapple and rum work together. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 451 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Pineapple Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a skillet, combine the pineapple, sugar, and cold water. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, and simmer for 25 minutes.

  2. Strain the juice from the mixture.

  3. Dissolve the isinglass in ½ cup of water and mix it with the pineapple juice.

  4. Add the rum and strain the mixture through a jelly bag.

  5. If the color is not dark enough, add a few drops of burnt sugar.

  6. Pour the jelly into a mold and let it set in a cool place until firm.

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.

  1. Pineapple + rumtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Isinglass
Gelatin-like protein that sets the juice into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and body, and helps balance the tartness of the pineapple.
Fresh pineapple
Provides the main fruit flavor and the juice that forms the jelly.
Rum
Adds aroma and a warm, boozy flavor to the finished jelly.

The step that matters

Skimming and straining the juice. Foam left in the liquid can cloud the jelly and leave bits in it, so skimming during the boil and straining before adding the isinglass gives a clear, smooth set.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, rum):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pineapplethe original
  3. Bananafits less well
  4. Mangofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, rum. 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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