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 ↓
Obab Apple Jelly and Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Remove stems and blossoms from the apples.
Scald the apples and pour off the first water.
Place the apples in plenty of water and cook slowly until they begin to soften.
Make the jelly
Dip off the juice for jelly, straining it through flannel.
For jelly, use 1 pound of juice to 1 pound of sugar.
Make the jam
Add more water to the remaining apples and let them stew until very soft.
Strain the pulp through a sieve to remove cores and seeds.
To the pulp, add brown sugar, pound for pound, and cook carefully while stirring.
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.
-
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 the pectin, acid and pulp that set the jelly and form the body of the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set by binding water and firming the gel.
- Brown sugar
- Sweetens the jam and adds a deeper, caramel-like flavour as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cooking the pulp with brown sugar. Sugar thickens and can scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred, so cooking carefully while stirring keeps the jam from burning and sticking.
“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 apple jelly and jam recipes
You might also like
The 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.
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Dried Apple Cake51 recipes