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 the fruit
Pare and halve the apricots, removing the stones.
Place them in a deep dish and sprinkle with 1 pound of sugar.
Let them sit for 8 hours to release syrup.
Transfer the apricots and syrup to a preserving pan.
Cook and jar
Add 1½ pounds of sugar and the sliced kernels.
Boil gently until done.
Pour into glasses or jars and cover with gummed paper.
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
- Apricots
- Provide the fruit, pectin and flavour that form the body of the jam.
- Sugar
- Draws out fruit syrup and sweetens, and helps the jam set and keep.
- Apricot kernels
- Add a subtle almond-like aroma to the finished jam.
The step that matters
Boil gently until done. Sugar and fruit must reach a high enough concentration to set. Boiling gently avoids scorching the sugar and fruit while still driving off water, so the jam thickens without burning.
“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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