Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Wash, wipe, and core the apples.
Place apples in a granite kettle and cover with water.
Cook slowly until the apples look red.
Pour the mixture into a muslin bag and drain.
Make the jelly
Return the juice to a clean kettle and boil for 30 minutes, skimming as needed.
Measure the juice; for every pint, add 1 pound of sugar.
Boil quickly for 10 minutes.
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.
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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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Provide the pectin and natural acidity that let the juice set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the juice thicken and set as it boils.
The step that matters
Boil quickly for 10 minutes after adding sugar. Sugar must be added to juice measured per pint and boiled hard for a short time. Too little boiling leaves the jelly runny, while overcooking can darken its colour and flavour.
“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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