Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Orange Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Rasp or pare the Seville oranges very thin.
Cut the oranges into quarters and remove the pulp.
Tie the rinds in thin cloths and boil them, changing the water three or four times to remove bitterness.
Once tender, cut the rinds into thin slices and remove all seeds and skins from the pulp.
Mix the pulp with some lemon juice and add it to the sliced orange.
Cook and pot
In a pot, combine the sugar and water, and bring to a boil.
After a few minutes, add the orange mixture and boil quickly, stirring constantly until clear.
Pour the marmalade into pots or glasses.
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.
-
Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Seville oranges
- Provide the peel, which supplies bitterness, and the pulp, which supplies pectin and body.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and, as it dissolves and boils, helps the mixture thicken and set.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and supports pectin setting.
The step that matters
Boil quickly while stirring until clear. Pectin and sugar set only at a high enough concentration and temperature. Boiling hard while stirring keeps the mixture from scorching and helps it reach a set, while prolonged gentle cooking can dull the flavor and color.
“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.
More orange marmalade recipes
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 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.