Why it works: Sugar and peach are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Peaches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the syrup
Prepare the syrup by mixing 1 quart of sugar with 2 quarts of water.
Use a porcelain kettle dedicated to canning.
Boil about 3 quarts of water in a second porcelain kettle.
Prepare the peaches
Place peaches in a clean wire basket and dip into boiling water briefly.
Transfer peaches immediately to a pail of cold water to peel easily.
Halve the peeled peaches and simmer in boiling water until tender.
Can and seal
Lift each half out with a wire spoon and fill a can with the peaches.
Pour in boiling syrup until the jar is full, then cover and seal tightly.
If syrup remains, combine it with the simmering water and more sugar, boil until it thickens for jelly or marmalade.
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.
-
Sugar + peachtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps preserve the peaches' flavor and texture.
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit that is peeled, simmered and packed in the syrup.
The step that matters
Pour in boiling syrup until the jar is full, then seal tightly. Hot syrup and a full jar help drive air out and keep the contents at a high enough temperature to limit spoilage before the seal forms. Leaving headspace or sealing loosely can let air and microbes in, so the jar may not keep.
“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
Peach Ice Cream64 recipes
Peach Fritters55 recipes
Peach Meringue40 recipes
Peach Ice16 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.