Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince 'jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare, quarter, and core the quinces, then weigh them.
Place the quinces in a pot with 2 cups of water and simmer gently until slightly broken, ensuring the juice remains pale.
Strain the liquid through a jelly bag or fine cloth without pressing.
Make the jelly
Weigh the juice and pour it into a clean preserving pan.
Boil the juice quickly for 20 minutes.
Stir in 12 ounces of sugar for each pound of juice until fully dissolved.
Continue to stir and remove scum for 10 to 20 minutes, until it jellies strongly.
Set
Pour the jelly into glasses or molds and let it set.
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Quinces
- Provide the pectin and tart flavor that allow the juice to set into a firm jelly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set firm and hold its shape.
The step that matters
Continue to stir and remove scum until it jellies strongly. Quince juice has a lot of pectin, and it only sets properly once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has boiled long enough to reach the gel point. Stopping too early leaves a runny jelly, while overcooking 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.
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