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 ↓
Pineapple Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cream
In a saucepan, mix pineapple pulp, whole milk, egg yolks, and powdered sugar.
Stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens.
Remove from heat and add heavy cream.
Freeze
Freeze the mixture until solid.
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 + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together885 recipes
Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the custard base as they set on gentle heating and add richness.
- Whole milk
- Provides the liquid base and adds body and richness to the cream.
- Heavy cream
- Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture after the base has been cooked.
- Pineapple pulp
- Supplies the main fruit flavour and acidity to the cream.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and dissolves easily into the warm base.
The step that matters
Stir over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Egg yolks thicken as their proteins set with heat, but overheating can scramble them into lumps. Stir constantly and keep the heat moderate so the base turns smooth and thick.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, sugar, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Raspberryfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar, 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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