Why it works: Orange and lemon 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 ↓
Cherry Conserve
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Chop oranges finely.
Steam raisins 20 minutes, then chop raisins coarsely.
Add cherries, oranges and sugar.
Boil 20 minutes and put in jelly glasses.
Cook the citron
Get good solid citron, pare off rind, seed, cut into 3 slices 2 inches long; weigh, put in preserving kettle with water enough to cover.
Boil 1 hour.
Take out citron and add to the water as much sugar as there is melon by weight.
Boil until quite thick, replace melon, add 2 thinly sliced lemons if small or 1 large to each pound of fruit.
Boil 20 minutes, take out fruit, boil syrup until thick molasses; pour over fruit, seal quickly.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cherry | 1 cup (138g) | 87 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Fruit | 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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Raisin + orangetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,684 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Raisin + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,742 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon 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
- Cherries
- Provide the main fruit body, flavour and colour of the preserve.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, as it concentrates, thickens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit.
- Raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and chewy body to the preserve.
- Oranges
- Contribute acidity and aroma from their juice and peel.
- Citron (in the method)
- Adds bulk and a firm, chewy texture that holds its shape in the syrup.
The step that matters
Boil the syrup until thick molasses. Sugar syrup thickens as water evaporates and sets as it cools. Boiling too briefly leaves it runny, while overcooking can scorch the sugar and make it bitter.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, orange, lemon):
- Limefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, orange, lemon. 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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