Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Peel the oranges and cut them into small pieces.
Place the pieces in a linen bag and squeeze out all the juice.
Measure the juice; if it is less than 1 pint, squeeze more oranges.
Make the jelly
In a preserving kettle, add the sugar and pour the juice over it.
Heat until the sugar melts, then bring to a boil.
Dissolve the isinglass in a little hot water and add it to the boiling jelly.
Boil hard for 20 minutes.
Pot and seal
Pour into glasses and seal with brandy 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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Oranges
- Provide the juice that forms the body and the bright orange flavour of the jelly.
- Double-refined loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set firm and glossy when boiled.
- Isinglass
- A gelatin-like setting agent that gives the juice its jelly structure.
The step that matters
Boil hard for 20 minutes. Isinglass only sets reliably once it is fully dissolved and the mixture has reached a hard boil. Boiling concentrates the sugar and juice so the jelly firms as it cools; too short a boil can leave it soft.
“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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