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 ↓
Apricot Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Slice the peeled and pitted apricots.
Cook the marmalade
In a pot, boil 1 pound of sugar with water until it reaches a candy height.
Add the sliced apricots to the boiling sugar and cook quickly.
Remove any scum that forms on the surface.
Once the mixture is clear, add the blanched apricot kernels if using.
Boil for an additional 1-2 minutes, then remove from heat.
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.
-
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 flavor, pectin, and bulk that give the marmalade its body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, boiled to a candy height, thickens and preserves the mixture.
- Blanched apricot kernels
- Add a subtle almond-like aroma to the finished marmalade.
The step that matters
Removing the scum from the surface. Scum is foam and impurities that rise as the sugar and fruit boil. Skimming it off keeps the marmalade clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy.
“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.
You might also like
Apricot Ice Cream26 recipes
Mixed Fruit Sherbet6 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 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.