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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the apricots
Pare and thinly slice the apricots.
Infuse them in an earthen pan until tender and dry.
Make the jam
Boil the sugar with the water until it reaches a candy height.
Pour the sugar over the apricots and stir over a slow fire until clear and thick, ensuring it simmers and does not boil.
Transfer the jam into 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.
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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, flavour and body of the jam once cooked down.
- Double-refined sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, when boiled to candy height, helps it set thick and clear.
The step that matters
Stirring over a slow fire without boiling. Sugar-fruit mixtures that boil hard can scorch and turn dark, while gentle simmering lets the sugar dissolve and the jam thicken evenly and stay clear.
“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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