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Apples in Syrup

Apples preserved in warm syrup with sulphite or alum to prevent browning.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,551 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Apples in Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the apples

  1. Peel and core the apples, then place them in cold water with 1 ounce of sulphite of soda for every 4 gallons to prevent browning.

  2. Alternatively, use 1 ounce of alum in 5 gallons of water for the same effect.

Pack and seal

  1. Pack the apples into cans or bottles and cover with warm syrup.

  2. Add 1 ounce of lemon-peel alcoholic infusion for every 5 gallons of syrup.

  3. Process quart cans for 18 minutes and pint cans for 10 minutes in boiling water.

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. Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,551 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Apple + syruptop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together742 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Apples
Provide the fruit body and texture that the syrup surrounds and sweetens.
Sulphite of soda
Slows browning of the cut apple flesh by limiting oxidation.
Alum
Firms the apple flesh and helps it hold its shape during processing.
Warm syrup
Supplies sweetness and moisture, and fills the container to exclude air.
Lemon-peel infusion
Adds citrus aroma and flavour to the syrup.

The step that matters

Holding the apples in the browning bath. Cut apple flesh oxidises and darkens quickly once exposed to air. Keeping the apples submerged in the sulphite or alum water until packing limits that browning, and the bath should be made up with the stated amounts.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, lemon):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Limefits better
  3. Raspberryfits better
  4. Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, lemon. 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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