Name: Jam Making, and Fruit Butter.
Ingredients: half cup of sugar to the pound of fruit is enough; a pint of sugar to a pound of fruit; a pound of fruit; a slice of pineapple cooked; two quinces; ginger; lemon juice

Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Jam Making, and Fruit Butter.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

Use soft and somewhat imperfect fruit for jam, allowing a pint of sugar to a pound of fruit.
Cook the fruit with enough water to prevent sticking to the kettle, using as little water as possible.
Mash the fruit by stirring it occasionally as it cooks.

Make the jam

When the fruit is soft, add the sugar, stir thoroughly, and cook gently for about five minutes.
Test the jam by cooling a spoonful on a saucer; it should thicken slightly.

Store and vary

When ready, pour the jam into jelly glasses or larger earthen jars (jam pots) and seal as directed for jelly.
For fruit butter, use a cup or half cup of sugar to a pound of fruit and proceed exactly as in jam-making.
Apple butter may be flavored with spices, ginger root, lemon juice, and other fruits; add one or two quinces or a slice of pineapple cooked with the apples for variety.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

145Calories

1 gProtein

0 gFat

39 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pineapple	1 cup chunks (165g)	82
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Fruit	not in our table	0
Quince	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.

By Helen Kinne and Anna M. Cooley. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pineapple + quincetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together56 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
Quince + gingertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together62 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Pineapple + gingertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together559 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Quince + lemontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together336 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Fruit: Breaks down into the bulk of the jam, providing its base flavor and body.
Sugar: Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken as it cooks down.
Quinces: Add pectin and tart flavor when cooked with apples for apple butter.
Pineapple: Adds tangy, fruity flavor when cooked with apples for variety.
Ginger: Adds aromatic warmth to apple butter.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens flavor in apple butter.

The step that matters

Testing the jam by cooling a spoonful on a saucer. Jam sets as its sugar and pectin concentrate during cooking, and a spoonful cooled on a saucer shows whether it has thickened enough. Cooking too briefly leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, pineapple, quince, ginger):

Pearfits better
Apricotfits better
Vanillafits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, pineapple, quince, ginger. 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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Quince Jelly131 recipes

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Jam Making, and Fruit Butter.