Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Wipe the apples.
Remove the stem and blossom ends.
Cut the apples into quarters.
Place the apples in a granite or porcelain-lined preserving kettle.
Add enough cold water to nearly cover the apples.
Cover the kettle.
Cook slowly until the apples are soft.
Mash the apples.
Extract the juice
Drain the mixture through a coarse sieve without squeezing.
Allow the juice to drip through a double thickness of cheesecloth or a jelly bag.
Make the jelly
Boil the juice for twenty minutes.
Add an equal quantity of heated sugar.
Boil for five minutes.
Skim off any foam.
Pour the mixture into glasses.
Place the glasses in a sunny window for twenty-four hours.
Cover the glasses.
Store them in a cool, dry place.
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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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Apples
- Provide the pectin and natural fruit flavour that give the jelly its body and taste.
- Cold water
- Helps the apples soften during slow cooking and releases their juice.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with the boiling, helps the juice thicken and set into jelly.
The step that matters
Allow the juice to drip without squeezing. Squeezing the sieve or bag forces cloudy solids and fine pulp through, which makes the jelly cloudy. Gentle dripping gives a clear juice that sets well.
“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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