Why it works: Apricot and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,630 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apricot Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the dried apricots in water for 2 days.
Cook the jam
Boil the soaked apricots gently until soft and pulpy, about 30 to 45 minutes.
Add the sugar and boil for 25 minutes or until the mixture reaches a jam-like consistency.
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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Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried apricots
- Provide the fruit pulp and natural pectin that give the jam its body and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates while boiling, helps it thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar and boiling to a jam-like consistency. Sugar and boiling both concentrate the fruit and help pectin set. Stopping too early leaves the jam runny, while boiling too long can make it stiff or scorch on the bottom of the pan.
“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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