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 Sweetmeat for Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the stones from the apricots and break them.
Blanch the apricot kernels.
Make the sweetmeat
Combine the apricots, green gages, and lump sugar in a pot.
Simmer the mixture until it becomes a jam, ensuring it does not boil.
Skim off any foam that forms during cooking.
Use clarified sugar for the best results.
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
- Ripe apricots
- Provide the main fruit flavour and pectin that help the mixture set into a thick jam.
- Green gages
- Add tart acidity and extra pectin, balancing the sweetness and helping the mixture set.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it thickens, preserves it and gives the jam a firm, glossy body.
The step that matters
Simmer without boiling. A gentle simmer lets water evaporate slowly so the fruit thickens into jam. A hard boil can scorch the sugar, darken the colour and spoil the flavour.
“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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