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Dessert

Knox Salad Dessert

A gelatin-based fruit dessert made with Knox gelatin, fruit, and whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Pineapple and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,664 recipes. Both carry ethyl isobutyrate, which smells fruity, ethereal. The science ↓

Knox Salad Dessert

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. Soak ½ envelope of Knox Sparkling Gelatine in 2 tablespoons cold water for 5 minutes.

  2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan.

  3. Add the beaten egg yolks, sugar, salt, paprika, and cayenne. Remove from heat.

  4. Gradually stir in the milk, vinegar, and pineapple juice.

  5. Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens.

  6. Add the soaked gelatine. Remove from heat.

  7. Beat for 2 minutes.

  8. Cool the mixture, stirring occasionally.

Set and serve

  1. When it begins to set, fold in the prepared fruit and beaten cream carefully.

  2. Pack the mixture into a mold that has been dipped in cold water.

  3. Let it stand for a few hours until firm.

  4. Once set, remove from the mold.

  5. Place on a bed of crisp lettuce leaves, cutting into slices for serving.

  6. Serve with or without mayonnaise dressing.

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.

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 + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,664 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Milk + pineappletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together885 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Knox sparkling gelatine
Provides the gel structure that lets the salad hold its shape when unmolded.
Egg yolks
Thicken the custard base and add richness as they cook gently.
Milk
Forms the liquid base of the custard, adding creaminess and body.
Cream
Beaten until stiff, it adds airy lightness and moisture to the set salad.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the vinegar and pineapple juice.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the custard.

The step that matters

Cool before folding in the cream and fruit. If the custard is still warm, the beaten cream will deflate and the fruit may sink. Folding in once the mixture just begins to set keeps the cream airy and the fruit evenly suspended.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, milk, vinegar, pineapple, cream):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, milk, vinegar, pineapple, 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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