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 Preserves
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Wipe and halve the apricots without peeling them.
Make the syrup
In a pot, combine the sugar and water to make a syrup.
Bring the syrup to a boil, skimming off any froth that rises.
Fill and seal
Pour the hot syrup over the apricots and seal the jars while hot.
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 body, flavor, and natural pectin that helps the preserves thicken.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, at high concentration, draws water out of the fruit to help preserve it.
The step that matters
Sealing the jars while the syrup is hot. Hot contents help drive air out of the jar, and as the preserves cool they contract and pull the lid down to form a vacuum seal. Letting them cool before sealing can leave jars unsealed.
“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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