Why it works: Lemon and orange match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Wash oranges. Cut them in halves crosswise. Squeeze out juice and seeds. Remove the white, pithy part of pulp from the skins. Put the skins and pulp through a meat chopper.
Place the mixture in a saucepan of water on the stove and boil, changing the water three times, adding orange juice to the skins on the last change.
Make the marmalade
Measure and add an equal measure of sugar. Boil until it becomes glassy, about 2 hours or longer.
Alternatively, take off orange peel in quarters. Boil, changing the water three times; then cut into strips and add to the orange pulp, which has been freed from seeds.
If sweet oranges are used, add juice of one lemon to every four oranges. Boil, add an equal measure of sugar, and boil again until thick and glassy. This may take an hour. (Orange jelly.)
Make the gelatin and set
Juice one lemon. Soak 14 sheets gelatin in 14 ounces of cold water. Dissolve the gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water. Add 1 cup of sugar and stir until dissolved and cooled.
Strain and add the orange and lemon juice. Pour into mold or orange skins.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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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Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Oranges
- Provide the peel, pulp and juice that form the bitter-sweet body of the marmalade.
- Sugar
- Sets the marmalade into a glassy, thick texture and sweetens the bitter peel.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and helps the marmalade set.
- Gelatin
- Forms a firm gel that holds the jelly shape when it is poured into a mold.
The step that matters
Boiling the marmalade until glassy. Sugar and pectin only set when the mixture reaches a high enough concentration. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and dull.
“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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