Why it works: Apricot and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,630 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apricot Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Stone and cut out any bad parts of the apricot skin.
Cut the apricots in half and layer them in a preserving kettle with the sugar.
Layer the fruit and sugar alternately, using ½ pound of sugar for each pound of fruit.
Cook
Cook the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
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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Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apricots
- Provide the fruit body and pectin that give the marmalade its set and fruity flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps the mixture thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Cooking to the desired consistency. Sugar and fruit thicken as water evaporates and pectin sets on cooling. Cooking too little leaves a runny marmalade, while cooking too long can darken and caramelise the sugar and dull the flavour.
“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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