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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and halve the apricots, then break the stones and blanch the kernels.
Add the blanched kernels to the apricot halves.
Cook the jam
In a pot, combine the apricots, sugar, and water.
Set over a brisk fire and stir until the mixture thickens but is not too stiff.
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 flavor and natural pectin that help the jam thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with heat, helps it thicken and keep well.
- Blanched apricot kernels
- Add a subtle almond-like aroma to the jam.
The step that matters
Stop stirring at the right thickness. Jam sets as sugar and pectin concentrate during cooking. Cooking too long makes it stiff and dense, while stopping too early leaves it runny and unset.
“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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