Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple and Blackberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pick the blackberries and place them in a pot with 1 lb of sugar.
Let them sit for at least 12 hours.
After 12 hours, place the pot on the stove or in a cool oven and gently stew until the juice is extracted.
Pare, core, and slice the apples thickly.
Put them in a preserving pan.
Cook the jam
Strain the blackberry juice into the pan with the apples, add the remaining sugar, and boil gently for 45 to 50 minutes.
Jar and store
Pour the jam into jars, cover tightly, and store in a dry, cool place.
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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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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
- Apples
- Provide pectin and body, helping the jam thicken and set as it cooks.
- Blackberries
- Supply the main flavor, color, and juice that forms the base of the jam.
- Preserving sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps preserve it while also aiding gel formation.
The step that matters
Gently stewing the blackberries until the juice is extracted. Stewing softens the fruit and draws out its juice before the sugar and apples are added. Gentle heat avoids scorching and keeps the fruit flavor fresh, so the jam cooks evenly later.
“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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