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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Separate the pulp from the skin of the oranges.
Boil the skins until very tender, then chop them finely.
Remove as much of the white part from the yellow skin as possible, using only the yellow part.
Cook the marmalade
Combine 1 pound of pulp and chopped skins with 1 pound of sugar.
Boil the mixture for twenty minutes.
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.
-
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
- Orange skins
- Supply the bitter peel and pectin that help the marmalade set and give it its characteristic flavour.
- Orange pulp
- Adds juice and moisture that cooks down with the sugar into the jelly base.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and helps it thicken and set as it boils.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture for twenty minutes. Sugar and fruit must reach a rolling boil long enough for the pectin and acid to work together and the mixture to thicken. Too short a boil leaves it runny; too long can darken and over-set it.
“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.
More orange marmalade recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 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.