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 Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pulp
Boil ripe apricots in water for 2-3 minutes to soften.
Pass the apricots through a fine sieve to extract the pulp.
Return the pulp to a pan and reduce it over low heat, stirring to prevent sticking.
Weigh the mixture.
Make the paste
Add ½ pound of loaf sugar for every pound of pulp.
Clarify the sugar.
Boil the clarified sugar until it reaches a feather stage.
Mix the pulp with the clarified sugar.
Boil the mixture for 1 minute.
When the paste easily drops from a spatula, remove from heat.
Mould and dry
Fill molds with the paste.
Dry as desired.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Ripe apricots
- Provide the fruit pulp that forms the body and flavour of the paste.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the paste and, as it cooks down, helps it set firm enough to hold its shape.
The step that matters
When the paste easily drops from a spatula, remove from heat.. Pectin and sugar set as the mixture concentrates; removing it too early leaves a soft paste that will not hold its shape, while overcooking makes it stiff and dry.
“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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