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 juice
Slice the apples and place them in a preserving kettle.
Add enough water to almost cover the apples.
Cook until the apples are soft, then strain the mixture through a jelly bag.
Make the jelly
Measure the juice and boil it for 20 minutes.
Add 2 to 3 times as much sugar as the juice and boil for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.
Always boil the jelly as fast as possible.
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 natural pectin and acid, which help the juice set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the jelly set and keep its structure as it cooks.
The step that matters
Boil the jelly as fast as possible. A rapid boil drives off water quickly so the sugar concentration and pectin reach the point where the jelly sets. A slow boil lengthens cooking, which can break down pectin and leave the jelly runny.
“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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