Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Pineapple Fritters
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the eggs until light, then add the shredded pineapple.
Sift together the flour, sugar, and baking powder, then add to the mixture.
If the pineapple is thin and juicy, drain some juice or add an additional ½ cup of flour.
Fry and serve
Drop spoonfuls of the batter into deep fat and fry until golden brown.
Serve plain or dusted with powdered sugar.
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.
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + pineappletop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Pineapple + flourtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,209 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they are beaten light.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the fritter together while it fries.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the fritters rise and turn light.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during frying.
- Shredded pineapple
- Adds moisture and fruity flavour to the batter.
The step that matters
Check the batter consistency with juicy pineapple. Juicy pineapple thins the batter, so it may spread and fry heavy or greasy. Draining juice or adding flour restores a thick batter that holds its shape in the hot fat.
Swap the pineapple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Pineapplethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, flour. 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.
You might also like
The 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.
Pineapple Sherbet116 recipes
Pineapple Pudding72 recipes
Pineapple Cream58 recipes
Pineapple Jelly39 recipes