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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apples
Boil the pippins until they begin to soften.
Transfer them to cold water, then peel and core the apples.
Squeeze the pulp through a sieve and place it in a pot over the fire.
Cook until the mixture becomes very thick.
Make the marmalade
Weigh an equal amount of fine sugar and boil until it sparkles.
Add the thickened apple pulp to the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until it begins to boil.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly before transferring to pots.
Do not cover the pots until the marmalade is completely cool.
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
- Pippins (or apples)
- Provide the pectin-rich pulp that thickens into the marmalade's body as it cooks down.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and, when boiled, helps set the pulp into a thick, preserved texture.
The step that matters
Cooking the apple pulp until very thick. The pulp must reduce enough to concentrate its natural pectin and solids. If it is undercooked, the marmalade will stay loose and may not set when cooled.
“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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