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 ↓
A Beautiful Preserve of Apricots
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare the apricots as thin as possible.
Weigh the apricots.
Lay the apricot halves on dishes with the hollow part facing upwards.
Strew an equal weight of sugar over the apricots.
Break the stones.
Blanch the kernels.
After 12 hours, place the apricots, sugar, and kernels into a preserving pan.
Cook and pot
Simmer gently until the apricots are clear.
Remove the apricots as they become clear.
Transfer the apricots to small pots.
Pour the syrup and kernels over the apricots.
Skim off any scum that rises.
Cover with brandy paper.
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 and flavor that the sugar slowly firms into a preserve.
- Loaf sugar
- Draws water out of the fruit and preserves it, giving sweetness and a thick set.
- Apricot kernels
- Add a subtle almond-like aroma to the syrup as they cook with the fruit.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until the apricots are clear. Boiling hard or stirring roughly can break the fruit apart and cloud the syrup. Gentle heat lets the sugar penetrate slowly so the apricots turn clear and hold their shape.
“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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