Why it works: Peach and sugar 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 ↓
How to Preserve Fruit
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Select the best quality fruit, not overripe.
Place larger fruits in a steamer over boiling water to cook.
Make the syrup
Prepare a syrup with sugar and water until the right consistency.
Drop the cooked fruit into the syrup.
Can and seal
Fill cans with the fruit and pour boiling syrup over it.
Seal the cans immediately and ensure they are in a hot-water bath while filling.
Fit the cover and pour wax around the lid to cover all crevices.
Store and check
Store the cans in a dark, cool place and check for tightness after 3-4 days.
Reheat and rewax any cans that are not tight.
Examine again in a week for signs of fermentation.
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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Peach + sugartop 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
- Fruit
- Provides the main body and flavour of the preserve.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps preserve it by binding water in the syrup.
- Wax
- Forms a airtight seal over the can lid to keep air out.
The step that matters
Sealing the cans while the syrup and fruit are hot. Boiling syrup and hot fruit drive air out of the cans and help create a vacuum as they cool. Sealing immediately keeps microbes from entering, and a tight seal is what prevents fermentation during 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.
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