Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Squeeze the skins and cores of the quinces using a fruit presser.
Strain the juice into the water used to boil the quinces.
Make the jelly
Use 1 pint of water for every pound of loaf sugar, but less sugar can be used.
Boil the mixture for no more than 15 to 20 minutes to preserve color.
Test and finish
To test if done, drop a little jelly into cold water; if it forms a lump at the bottom, it is ready.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Quinces
- Provide natural pectin and acidity, which help the jelly set and give it a tart flavor.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and, at high concentration, helps the pectin gel and preserves the jelly.
The step that matters
Boil for no more than 15 to 20 minutes. Prolonged boiling darkens the color and breaks down pectin, weakening the set. Checking a drop in cold water shows whether the jelly has reached the gel point.
“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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