Why it works: Orange and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine the orange juice and sugar.
Boil slowly for 10 to 15 minutes.
Bottle the syrup.
Cork it tightly.
Serve
To serve, mix 3 tablespoons of syrup in a glass of ice water.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Orange juice
- Provides the liquid base and the citrus flavour of the syrup.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and, as it dissolves and thickens on boiling, gives it body.
The step that matters
Boil slowly for 10 to 15 minutes. Boiling concentrates the juice and dissolves the sugar fully. Too short a boil leaves a thin syrup that may spoil sooner, while overboiling can make it too thick once it cools.
“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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