Why it works: Apricot and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,630 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apricot Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and halve the apricots, removing the stones.
Place them in a deep dish and sprinkle with 1 pound of sugar. Let sit for 8 hours.
Transfer the apricots and their syrup to a preserving pan.
Cook and jar
Add 1½ pounds of sugar and the blanched, sliced kernels.
Boil gently for 30 minutes, then pour into jars and seal with gummed paper.
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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Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apricots
- Provide the fruit, pectin and flavour that form the jam's body and taste.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and draws moisture out of the fruit, helping it set when boiled.
The step that matters
Boil gently for 30 minutes. Sugar and fruit must reach a sustained boil to thicken into a set jam. Boiling gently rather than violently helps keep the fruit pieces intact and reduces scorching on the bottom of the pan.
“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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