Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Exceedingly Fine Apple Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare quickly some highly flavored juicy apples of any kind; slice without dividing them; first free them from stalks and eyes; shake out some of the pips; put apples evenly into very clean large stone jars, dipping occasional layers into cold water as this is done to preserve color.
Set the jars into pans of water and boil the fruit slowly until it is quite soft.
Turn the jars into a jelly-bag or cloth and let the juice all drop from it.
Make the jelly
Weigh the juice and boil it for ten minutes.
The rind of one or two cut very thin may be simmered in the juice before the sugar is added.
Draw it from the fire and stir into it until it is entirely dissolved, adding twelve ounces of good sugar to the pound and quarter (or pint) of juice.
Place the preserve again over the fire and stir it without intermission, except to clear off the scum, until it has boiled from eight to ten minutes longer.
The strained juice of one small fresh lemon to the pint of jelly should be thrown into it two or three minutes before it is poured out.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| 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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Apples (in the method)
- Provide the juice, pectin and acid that let the jelly set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the jelly set and keep.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that supports setting and brightens the flavor.
- Lemon rind
- Adds aromatic citrus oils to the juice before the sugar goes in.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar. The juice must boil long enough after the sugar dissolves to reach the concentration needed for a set. Stopping early leaves the jelly runny, while boiling too long can make it stiff and sugary.
“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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