Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Squeeze the juice from the oranges through a sieve.
In a pot, combine the orange juice and powdered sugar.
Boil the mixture slowly, skimming off any scum that forms.
Cool and bottle
Remove from heat and let it cool.
Bottle the syrup, ensuring the corks are secured well.
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Orange juice
- Provides the liquid base and the bright, acidic citrus flavor of the syrup.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the juice to sweeten it and give the syrup its thick body.
The step that matters
Boil slowly and skim off the scum. Scum is impurities and coagulated proteins that rise to the surface as the juice heats. Skimming them off keeps the syrup clear and free of off flavors, and slow boiling prevents the sugar from scorching or the syrup from over-thickening.
“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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