Why it works: Kumquat and orange work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
Kumquat Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the juice
Wipe three-fourths of a box of kumquats, cut into slices, and add cold water to cover.
Bring the mixture slowly to boiling point and cook slowly for one-half hour.
Strain the mixture; there should be one and one-half cups of juice.
Make the jelly
Add sugar, wine, and curaçao to the juice.
Soak gelatine in cold water, then add it to the first mixture heated to boiling point.
Add salt.
Strain the mixture again, turn it into individual molds, and chill.
Serve
Remove from molds to a serving dish, and garnish with halves of kumquats cooked in syrup until soft, drained, and rolled in sugar.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 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 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Kumquat | not in our table | 0 |
| 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.
-
Kumquat + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Kumquat + sugartop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together35 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Kumquat juice
- Provides the main flavour and liquid base of the jelly.
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the kumquats.
- Sauterne
- Adds wine flavour and aroma to the jelly.
The step that matters
Soaking and adding the gelatine. Gelatine must be softened in cold water first, then fully dissolved in the hot mixture. If it is not fully dissolved or the mixture is too hot, it will not set evenly or firmly when chilled.
Swap the kumquat
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, orange):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonfits better
- Figfits better
- Kumquatthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, orange. 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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