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 ↓
Peach Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel, stone, and chop the peaches.
Weigh ¾ pound of sugar for each pound of chopped peaches.
Measure 1 cup of water for each pound of sugar.
Cook the marmalade
Combine sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil, skimming off any foam.
Add the peaches and boil rapidly, mashing them until smooth.
Continue boiling until the mixture thickens to a jellied consistency.
Jar and seal
Pour into small jars or tumblers and let cool.
Seal as you would for jellies.
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
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit flavor and the body of the marmalade once mashed and cooked down.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and, as it boils down, helps it thicken to a jellied set.
The step that matters
Continue boiling until the mixture thickens to a jellied consistency. Sugar and fruit pectin set only at a high enough concentration and temperature. Stopping too early leaves a runny marmalade, while boiling too long can make it stiff and dark.
“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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