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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and prepare the apricots.
Cook
Cook the apricots until soft.
Add sugar, using 10 to 12 ounces for each pound of fruit.
Boil the mixture until it reaches the desired consistency.
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, pectin and flavor that the marmalade is built on.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps the mixture thicken and set as it boils.
The step that matters
Boil until the desired consistency. Sugar and fruit pectin only gel once enough water has evaporated and the mixture reaches a high enough concentration. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while cooking too long can make it stiff and dull in flavor.
“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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