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Peach and Apricot

A gelatin-based preserve made from peaches or apricots, sugar, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Gelatin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Peach and Apricot

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Remove the stones from the peaches or apricots.

  2. Place the fruit in a pot and add water in the ratio of 1 quart of water for every 4 quarts of fruit.

  3. Stir continuously until the mixture reduces to a pulp.

  4. Pour the pulp into a crock and let it cool.

  5. Strain the cooled mixture through a fine sieve.

Make the jelly

  1. Dissolve the gelatin in 3 quarts of water.

  2. Add 1 quart of the strained juice to the gelatin mixture.

  3. Stir in 12½ pounds of sugar and mix well.

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. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Peach + gelatintop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together63 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-pinene (pine, resin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Peaches or apricots
Provide the fruit flavour and the pectin-rich pulp that forms the body of the jelly.
Gelatin
Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly structure.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the jelly set and keep its texture.

The step that matters

Stir continuously until the mixture reduces to a pulp. Fruit can scorch on the bottom of the pot while it thickens, which gives a burnt taste. Constant stirring spreads the heat evenly and breaks the fruit down into a smooth pulp.

Swap the peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Peachthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, sugar. 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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