Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Pare and cut the apples into eighths, removing the core.
Place the apple pieces in cold water to prevent browning.
Make the syrup
For every pound of apples, use one pound of loaf sugar and a pint of water for every six pounds of sugar.
Boil the sugar and water until it reaches a candy stage.
Cook and store
Drain the apples and add them to the boiling sugar.
Boil gently until the apples are soft but not broken.
Transfer the jam to jars for storage.
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.
-
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Apples
- Provide the fruit body and pectin that help the jam set as it cooks.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps preserve it while thickening the syrup.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be brought to a candy stage before the fruit is added.
The step that matters
Boil gently until the apples are soft but not broken. Vigorous boiling breaks the apple pieces down and can scorch the sugar, while gentle heat softens the fruit and keeps its shape. Pectin released from the apples is what helps the jam thicken as it cools.
“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.
More apple jam recipes
You might also like
Apple Pudding256 recipes
Apple Cake80 recipes
Apple Meringue75 recipes
Dried Apple Cake51 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.