Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Peach Pyramid
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peaches
Cut a dozen peaches in halves, peel, remove stones, crack half the seeds, and blanch the kernels.
Make a clear boiling syrup of one pound of white sugar.
Into the syrup, put the peaches and kernels.
Boil very gently for ten minutes.
Take out half the peaches.
Boil the rest for ten minutes longer, and take out all the peaches and kernels.
Make the jelly
Mix the remaining syrup with the strained juice of three lemons and an ounce of isinglass dissolved in a little water and strained.
Boil up once.
Set in the mould
Fill a mould half full of this syrup or jelly.
Let stand until set.
Add part of the peaches and a little more jelly.
When this is set, add the rest of the peaches.
Fill up the mould with jelly.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 4 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Syrup | 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.
-
Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Lemon + syruptop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,235 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Peaches (in the method)
- Provide the fruit flavour and the main body of the set dessert.
- Isinglass
- Gelatinous setting agent that firms the syrup into a jelly.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps it become a clear, thick base for the jelly.
- Lemons
- Add acidity and brightness that balances the sweetness of the syrup.
The step that matters
Let each layer set before adding the next. Isinglass firms only as the jelly cools and gels. Pouring fruit onto a layer that is still liquid lets the peaches sink or float and blurs the layers, so each set must be firm first.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Pearfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup. 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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