Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Candied Orange Peel
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the peel
Make a weak brine with ½ cup coarse sea salt in 2 quarts of water.
Let the orange peel soak for 2 days.
Boil the peel in several changes of water until tender.
Make the syrup
Prepare a syrup by combining 1 cup of water with 4 cups of sugar.
Cut the peel into strips using scissors and drain.
Candy the peel
Simmer the peel in the syrup on low heat until the syrup thickens and the peel is dry enough to roll in granulated sugar.
Let the peel sit in the syrup overnight before simmering.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Forms a concentrated syrup that sweetens the peel and preserves it as water evaporates.
The step that matters
Simmering the peel in the syrup on low heat. Low heat lets water evaporate slowly, so the syrup thickens gradually without scorching the sugar. Gradual concentration lets sugar penetrate the peel and leaves it firm and dry enough to roll without becoming sticky.
“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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