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 ↓
Orange Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Put the water into a saucepan with the isinglass, sugar, the rind of one orange, and the rind of half a lemon, and stir over the fire until the isinglass dissolves and remove the scum.
Add the juice of the Seville orange, the juice of the lemon, and enough juice of China oranges to make a total of one pint; 8 to 10 oranges will yield the desired quantity.
Stir all together over the fire until it is just on the point of boiling. Skim well.
Strain the jelly through a very fine sieve or jelly‑bag.
Set and serve
When nearly cold, put it into a mould previously wetted.
When quite set, turn it out onto a dish and garnish to taste.
To insure the jelly is clear, strain the orange and lemon juice and clarify the isinglass before adding them to the other ingredients, and add a few drops of prepared cochineal to heighten colour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Orange | 1 medium (131g) | 62 |
| 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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Isinglass (in the method)
- Sets the water and juice into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the citrus juice.
- Seville orange juice
- Provides the main bitter-sharp citrus flavour and acidity.
- China orange juice
- Supplies most of the liquid and sweet orange flavour to reach one pint.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and sharpens the jelly.
The step that matters
Stirring until just on the point of boiling, then skimming. Boiling hard can cloud the jelly and weaken the isinglass set, while skipping the skim leaves scum that makes the jelly cloudy. Gentle heat and careful skimming help keep it clear and firm.
“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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