Why it works: Peach and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Dried Peaches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peaches
Pare and halve the peaches, removing the pits.
Sprinkle a little sugar into the cavity of each peach.
Let the peaches stand for a few hours with sugar scattered over them.
Cook and dry
Cook the peaches slowly until they look clear and can be pierced easily.
Spread the peaches on plates and set them in the sun to dry.
Boil the thick syrup left in the kettle for a few minutes and pour it over the dried peaches.
Pack and store
Pack the dried peaches in jars, layering with powdered sugar.
Cover the jars carefully to keep out flies.
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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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit that softens, dries and becomes the main body of the preserve.
- Light brown sugar
- Draws moisture out of the fruit and forms a thick syrup that preserves and sweetens it.
- Powdered sugar
- Layered between the dried peaches in the jars to coat them and help keep them from sticking.
The step that matters
Cook the peaches slowly until clear. Slow cooking lets sugar slowly penetrate the fruit and replace its water. Cooking too fast can toughen or break the peaches before they become clear and tender enough to pierce, so they dry poorly.
“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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