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 Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
Weigh equal amounts of pared apricots and sugar.
Wet the sugar slightly and boil it quickly to prevent discoloration.
Blanch the apricot kernels and add them to the mixture.
Boil for 20 to 30 minutes.
Pour into small pots or cups, filling them halfway.
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 base and flavour that the mixture cooks down into a thick paste.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and thickens it as it boils down to a firm set.
- Apricot kernels
- Add a subtle almond-like aroma to the finished apricot cheese.
The step that matters
Boil the sugar quickly after wetting it. Sugar that is boiled fast and briefly, rather than slowly, is less likely to darken or caramelise, which keeps the apricot cheese a bright colour.
“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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