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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Grate the rinds of Seville oranges lightly and cut them into quarters.
Remove the flesh from the rinds and clear it of pips and inner skin using a small spoon.
Soak the rinds in cold water.
Cook the rinds
Boil the rinds for 20 minutes and change the water.
Once tender, drain the rinds and slice them thin.
Make the marmalade
Combine 8 ounces of sliced rinds with each pound of orange pulp and juice, and add 1.5 pounds of powdered sugar.
Boil the mixture quickly for 30 minutes, skimming off any foam.
Pour the marmalade into jars.
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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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
- Seville oranges
- Supply pulp and pectin that help the marmalade set; their sharp acidity balances the sugar.
- Orange rinds
- Sliced rinds add bitter aroma and chewy texture, and extra pectin for setting.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and, with the fruit's acid and pectin, helps it set.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture quickly for 30 minutes. Rapid boiling drives off water so the pectin and acid can gel the sugar syrup into a firm set. Skimming removes foam that would otherwise cloud the preserve.
“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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