Why it works: Pineapple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,964 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pine-apple Ice
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
In a large bowl, combine the shredded pineapple, lemon juice, and sugar.
Pour in the boiling water and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Let the mixture cool completely.
Finish and freeze
Once cool, gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Freeze the mixture until firm.
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 + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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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).
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
- Shredded pineapple
- Provides the main fruit flavor and sweetness, with acidity balancing the sugar.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and sharpens the pineapple flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the ice and lowers its freezing point, keeping it softer when frozen.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foams that add air and a lighter, fluffier texture to the frozen mixture.
The step that matters
Fold in the egg whites gently after cooling. Beaten egg whites hold air that gives the ice a light texture. If the mixture is still warm, the whites can deflate and the ice becomes denser. Stirring hard knocks out the air, so fold slowly.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sugar, egg):
- Orangefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Limefits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sugar, 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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