Why it works: Orange and sugar 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 ↓
To Preserve Oranges in Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Cut a hole in the stem of each orange, scoop out the pulp, and tie them in muslin.
Soak the oranges in spring water for two days, changing the water twice daily.
Boil the oranges in the muslin until tender, adding hot water as needed to keep them covered.
Make the syrup
For every pound of oranges, use two pounds of sugar and one pint of water.
Boil the sugar and water with the orange juice to make syrup.
Skim the syrup well and let it cool.
Cook and clear
Add the oranges and boil for 30 minutes.
If the oranges are not clear, boil them once a day for two to three days.
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar 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
- Seville oranges
- Provide the fruit, peel and bitter juice that set the dish's flavour and texture.
- Double-refined sugar
- Sweetens the dish and, as it concentrates in the syrup, helps preserve the fruit.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar into syrup and softens the oranges during boiling.
The step that matters
Boiling the oranges until tender. Oranges must be fully softened in the muslin before they go into the syrup. Adding hot water keeps them covered so they cook evenly and do not dry or scorch on the surface.
“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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