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
Make 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 you can use less sugar if desired.
Boil the jelly for no more than 15 to 20 minutes to preserve the color.
To test if it's done, drop a little jelly into cold water; if it forms a lump at the bottom, it's 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 the pectin and tart flavor that give the jelly its set and aroma.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set into a firm gel as it cooks.
The step that matters
Boil for no more than 15 to 20 minutes. Prolonged boiling darkens the color and can weaken the set, so the jelly should be checked early with the cold-water test.
“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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