Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Jujube Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Dissolve 1 pound of gum Senegal in enough orange-flower water to leave a sediment.
Heat the mixture on a slow fire, stirring continuously until it reaches a paste consistency.
Clarify ½ pound of loaf sugar and boil it until it reaches a blow stage.
Add the boiled sugar to the paste and mix well.
Continue heating on a very slow fire until it dries to a good consistency.
Mold and cut
Pour the mixture into tin molds about ¼ inch thick and place them in a stove.
Once dry, remove the paste from the molds and cut it into small pieces or desired shapes.
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.
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Gum senegal
- Forms the gel-like base that sets the paste firm once dried.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, once boiled, helps the paste dry to a chewy texture.
The step that matters
Continue heating on a very slow fire until it dries to a good consistency. Heating too fast can scorch the sugar or leave the gum unevenly set. Slow, steady drying lets moisture leave gradually, giving a uniform, firm paste that holds its shape when cut.
“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
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.