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To Preferve Apricots

A method of preserving apricots by sugar, water, and brandy paper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Apricot and brandy work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 513 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

To Preferve Apricots

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the apricots

  1. Stone and thinly pare the apricots.

  2. Weigh the apricots and measure out the same weight in sugar.

  3. Place the apricots in a bowl and cover with sugar; let sit overnight.

Cook the apricots

  1. The next day, transfer apricots to a preserving pan and add a pint of water.

  2. Simmer gently, then boil until tender, skimming off any foam.

  3. Use a clean needle to poke holes in the apricots for syrup penetration.

  4. Once cooked, place apricots in jars.

Finish and seal

  1. Boil the syrup until it thickens, then pour over the apricots.

  2. Cover with brandy paper and seal tightly.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Apricot + brandytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together513 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,630 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Apricots
Provide the fruit that softens during cooking and becomes the preserve.
Double refined sugar
Draws water out of the fruit and preserves it while adding sweetness.
Brandy paper
Covers the jars as a sealing layer and adds a light aroma.

The step that matters

Poke holes in the apricots before syrup is added. Holes let the syrup penetrate the fruit so the sugar reaches the centre; without them the apricots may stay firm and unevenly preserved.

Swap the apricot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotthe original
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Figfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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