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 Jeixy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare, quarter, and core the quinces, then weigh them.
Place the quinces in a pot with 1 pint of water for each pound of fruit.
Simmer gently until the quinces are slightly broken but the juice remains pale.
Extract the juice
Strain the liquid through a jelly-bag or fine cloth without pressing.
Weigh the juice and pour it into a clean preserving pan.
Make the jelly
Boil the juice quickly for 20 minutes.
Stir in 12 ounces of sugar for each pound of juice (or 14 ounces if the fruit is very acidic) until dissolved.
Continue to stir and remove scum for another 10 to 20 minutes until it jellies strongly.
Pour the jelly into glasses or molds and let it set.
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.
-
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
- Ripe quinces
- Provide the pectin and natural acidity that let the juice set into a firm jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with heat and acid, helps the juice gel into a firm set.
The step that matters
Stop simmering the fruit before it turns cloudy. Simmering only until the quinces are slightly broken keeps the juice pale and clear. Pressing the fruit or over-cooking it releases starch and pulp that cloud the jelly and can make it less clear.
“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
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 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.