Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Orange Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Rub the sugar on the rind of the oranges and lemons.
Express the juice of the oranges and lemons and mix with the sugar.
Boil the mixture, skim off any foam, and strain through a jelly bag.
Make the jelly
Return the strained mixture to a pot, add the Madeira or sherry and isinglass.
Boil again, skimming as necessary, and strain until clear.
Set and unmould
Pour into a mould that has been filled with cold water for 2 hours.
Set the mould on ice until the jelly is cold and firm.
To unmould, briefly dip the mould in hot water.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Orange + sherrytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together823 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Lemon + sherrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that makes the juice firm into a jelly when cooled.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the citrus juice.
- Oranges
- Provide the main juice, flavour and aroma of the jelly, with rind oils from rubbing.
- Lemons
- Add acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sweetness.
- Madeira or sherry
- Adds depth and aroma to the jelly and contributes to its flavour.
The step that matters
Straining until clear. Boiling again and straining removes foam and particles, so the jelly sets clear rather than cloudy. Skimming as it boils keeps the surface clean.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, orange, sherry):
- Vanillafits better
- Pineapplefits about as well
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, orange, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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