Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Isinglass Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Filter the orange juice and clarify the isinglass.
Strain the juice as clear as possible, first through a sieve or muslin, then through a thick cloth or jelly bag.
Mix one quart of China orange juice with as much lemon juice as will give an agreeable degree of acidity, or with a small proportion of Seville orange juice.
Make the jelly
Dissolve two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of water. Skim the mixture well.
Throw in half a pound of sugar and a few strips of orange rind. Pour in the orange juice. Stir the whole well together.
Skim it clean without allowing it to boil. Strain it through a cloth or through a muslin, many times folded.
Set
When nearly cold, put it into the moulds.
(Optional) This jelly is sometimes made without any water, by dissolving the isinglass and sugar in the juice of the fruit.
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.
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar 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
- Isinglass (in the method)
- Gelatin-like protein that sets the juice into a firm, clear jelly when cooled.
- Orange juice
- Provides the main flavour and liquid base of the jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the acidity of the orange juice.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity to brighten the flavour of the orange juice.
The step that matters
Skim without boiling. Boiling the mixture would cloud the jelly and can weaken its setting, so it should only be heated enough to dissolve and be skimmed clean.
“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.
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.