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 Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rind
Cut off the thin yellow rind of the oranges.
Dry the rind for two days.
Make the sugar
In a mortar, combine the dried rind with 2 cups of granulated sugar.
Pound the mixture until it becomes a powder.
Rub the powdered mixture through a very fine sieve.
Store the finely powdered sugar in tight glass jars.
Use
Use 1 tablespoon of this mixture to flavor a custard or cake.
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.
-
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
- Oranges
- The thin yellow rind supplies the aromatic oils that give the sugar its orange flavor.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and helps grind the rind while spreading its oils through the powder.
The step that matters
Dry the rind for two days. The rind must be fully dry before pounding. Any remaining moisture makes it tough and leathery, so it will not grind to a fine powder and may clump or spoil in storage.
“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.