Why it works: Peach and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Peach Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peaches
Pare the ripe peaches and place them in a preserving kettle with enough water to boil them soft.
Sift the mixture through a colander to remove the stones.
Cook the butter
Add 1½ pounds of sugar for each quart of peaches and boil very slowly for one hour.
Stir often to prevent burning.
Store
Transfer to stone or glass jars and store in a cool place.
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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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe peaches
- Break down into the soft pulp that forms the thick, spreadable body of the butter.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it cooks down, thickens the butter and helps preserve it.
The step that matters
Stirring during the slow boil. Sugar and fruit solids settle and scorch on the bottom of the kettle during a long, slow boil. Frequent stirring keeps heat even and prevents a burnt taste.
“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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