Skip to main content
Dessert

Apricot Marmalade

A sweet preserve made by cooking peeled apricots with sugar until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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

  1. Cut the apricots into small pieces.

  2. In a medium-sized pan, combine the apricots and sugar over high heat.

Cook and test

  1. Stir well with a large wooden spatula to prevent sticking.

  2. To test if the marmalade is done, drop a little into a glass of cold water; if it does not spread, it's ready. Alternatively, rub a bit between your thumb and forefinger; if it forms a thread when separated, it's done.

Finish

  1. Remove from heat and transfer to pots.

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. Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Yellow apricots
Provide the fruit base, flavor, and pectin-bearing pulp that gives the marmalade body.
Fine granulated sugar
Sweetens the fruit and helps the mixture thicken and set as it cooks.

The step that matters

Testing for doneness. Sugar concentration and cooking time determine whether the marmalade sets. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while cooking too long can make it stiff. Testing with a cold-water drop or a thread check helps judge when the mixture has thickened enough.

“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

Apricot Ice CreamApricot Ice Cream26 recipesMixed Fruit SherbetMixed Fruit Sherbet6 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipes