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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wipe the apricots with a damp cloth and divide them in half.
Weigh the apricots and measure out the same weight of sugar.
Place the apricots in a preserving pan and cover with sugar.
Leave the mixture overnight.
Cook and jar
The next day, heat on a slow fire, turning the fruit gently until the sugar melts.
Cook rapidly for 30 to 40 minutes until the jam is clear and transparent.
Pour into dry, sterilized jars.
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, pectin and flavor that form the body of the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps it set and keep.
The step that matters
Cook rapidly until clear. Sugar draws water out of the fruit during the overnight rest, so the jam needs a brisk boil to thicken. Cooking too gently can leave it runny and cloudy, while boiling too long can darken and dull the flavor.
“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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