Name: Orange Syrup
Ingredients: 1 gallon simple syrup; 1 ounce citric acid solution; 2 ounces orange extract

Why it works: Syrup and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,179 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Orange Syrup

Ingredients

1 gallon simple syrup
1 ounce citric acid solution
2 ounces orange extract

Directions

Combine the simple syrup, citric acid solution, and orange extract in a large container. Stir well until fully mixed.
Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Syrup + orangetop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,179 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Simple syrup: Provides the sweet liquid base that carries the other flavors.
Citric acid solution: Adds tartness that balances the sweetness and brightens the orange flavor.
Orange extract: Supplies the concentrated orange aroma and flavor.

“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.