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 ↓
Blackberry and Apple Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Combine 1 lb of blackberries and ½ lb of apples in a pot.
Add ¾ lb of sugar to the fruit.
Boil the mixture for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
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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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
- Blackberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour, colour and natural pectin for thickening the jam.
- Apples
- Add natural pectin that helps the jam set as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and keep its set.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Sugar and fruit must cook long enough to reach the gel point, where pectin and sugar set the jam. Stirring prevents scorching on the base of the pot.
“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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