Why it works: Pineapple and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 530 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓
Pine-apple Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Peel and slice the pineapple into fine pieces and mix with 6 oz of powdered sugar in a basin.
Line a pie dish with pastry dough and spread 1 tablespoon of apple sauce over it.
Arrange the pineapple slices on top of the apple sauce.
Roll out 3 oz of pastry dough into a long strip, about 30 inches long and 1 inch wide.
Bake and serve
Moisten the edge of the pie with beaten egg and place the pastry strip around the edge, overlapping the ends.
Glaze the surface of the strip with beaten egg and bake the pie in a moderate oven at 350 °F (175 °C) for 50 minutes.
Remove the pie, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and return to the oven for 2 minutes to melt the sugar.
Spread 2 oz of sweet jelly evenly over the top and serve.
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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Pineapple + appletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together530 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,147 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + appletop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and apple barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Pineapple
- Provides the main fruit flavour and juicy filling texture, sweetened by the powdered sugar.
- Pastry dough
- Forms the crisp base and edge that hold the filling in place.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the pineapple and, melted on top, adds a glossy finish.
- Beaten egg
- Glues the pastry strip to the edge and browns the glazed surface as it bakes.
- Apple sauce
- Adds moisture and a soft layer between the pastry and the pineapple.
The step that matters
Bake the pie at 350 °F for 50 minutes. Baking long enough lets the pastry set and brown fully while the juicy pineapple cooks down, so the base does not stay soggy. Taking it out too early leaves the crust pale and the filling wet.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pineapple, sugar, sauce, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Bananafits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pineapple, sugar, sauce, egg. 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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