Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apple Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the juice
Pare and core the apples, then slice them into a preserving pan.
Add enough water to cover the apples and boil until they are reduced to a mash.
Pour the mixture into a flannel bag to drain the liquid.
Make the jelly
For each pound of filtered apple juice, take 12 ounces of sugar and boil it, removing any scum that rises.
Check for doneness by dipping your finger and thumb in the syrup; it should form a thread.
Alternatively, drop a little on a cold plate; if it sets quickly, it is done.
Finish as for jams.
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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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Apples
- Provide the pectin and natural acid that let the juice set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and, when boiled, helps it thicken and set.
- Water
- Covers the apples so they soften and release their juice while boiling.
The step that matters
Testing for doneness. Boiling sugar and juice past the setting point makes the jelly stiff, while stopping early leaves it runny. Testing by thread or on a cold plate shows when the pectin and sugar have reached the right concentration to set.
“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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