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
Prepare the fruit
Remove the rough outside of the pineapple and peel it thickly to remove all eyes.
Boil the peel in water until the flavor is extracted.
Strain the boiled peel liquid.
Let the strained liquid cool.
Cut the pineapple into half-inch square pieces.
Sprinkle the pineapple pieces with sugar and brandy.
Let the pineapple mixture sit for 2 hours.
Make the cream
Combine the pineapple mixture with the cooled liquid.
Boil the combined mixture for 10 minutes, skimming constantly.
Add the isinglass and boil for another 10 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a basin.
Whisk in the cream until it begins to thicken.
Set and finish
Pour the mixture into a mold.
Place the mold on ice until set.
Stir for 10 minutes to prevent the fruit from sinking.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Pineapple + brandytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together298 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Brandy + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
-
Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Supplies the main fruit flavor and the pieces suspended in the finished cream.
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the mixture as it cools.
- Rich cream
- Adds richness and body, and thickens the mixture as it is whisked in.
- Powdered loaf sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and softens its texture as it sits.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm, spirited note to the fruit.
The step that matters
Stir for 10 minutes to keep the fruit from sinking. Fruit pieces are denser than the thickening cream, so they settle to the bottom. Stirring while the mixture thickens keeps the pieces evenly distributed through the set cream.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Strawberryfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy, 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.
More pineapple cream recipes
You might also like
Pineapple Sherbet116 recipes
Pineapple Pudding72 recipes
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Pineapple Jelly39 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.