Why it works: Apricot and apple match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 777 recipes. Both carry gamma-undecalactone, which smells peach, sweet. The science ↓
Apricot Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apricots
Cut the apricots into pieces and remove the stones.
Place them in a large copper preserving pan and mash them well.
Heat the mashed apricots over the fire, mashing continuously.
Pass the mixture through a colander, using a small pestle to force it through.
Cook the jam
Return the strained apricot mixture to the fire and let it boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add 15 ounces of powdered sugar for every pound of apricots and boil for an additional 30 minutes, stirring continuously to prevent burning.
Once cooked, pour the jam into brown pans.
Seal and store
When cooled, spread apple jelly over the top and cover with brandy papers before sealing.
Let the jars stand for two days before storing.
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 + appletop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together777 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-undecalactone (peach, sweet).
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Apricot + brandytop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together513 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Apple + brandytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,291 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + appletop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and apple barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe apricots
- Provide the fruit, pectin and flavour that form the body of the jam.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and keep as it cooks down.
- Apple jelly
- Spread over the top of the jam as an added layer, as the record directs.
The step that matters
Stirring during the sugar boil. Sugar-rich fruit mixtures scorch easily on the bottom of a pan over direct heat. Constant stirring during the 30-minute boil prevents burning and keeps the jam from taking on a caramelized, bitter taste.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apricot, sugar, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Peachfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apricot, sugar, brandy. 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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