Why it works: Lemon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Apple Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Peel the apples and boil them with water and isinglass.
Once the isinglass is dissolved and the apples are pulpy, strain the mixture.
Add the lemon juice and grated rind, along with the loaf sugar.
Boil the mixture together for 20 minutes and strain again.
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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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lemon and sugar 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
- Apples (in the method)
- Provide pectin and flavour as the body of the jelly once cooked to a pulp.
- Isinglass
- Gelatinous setting agent that firms the strained liquid into a jelly as it cools.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set firm and hold its shape.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and supports setting.
The step that matters
Straining the apple mixture. Straining before adding sugar and boiling removes pulp and solids so the jelly is clear. Boiling the sugar in afterwards concentrates the liquid so it sets properly.
“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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