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 ↓
To Dry Apricots
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Halve and thinly pare the apricots.
Place them in a dish and sprinkle the sugar over them.
Allow the sugar to melt, then gently heat the fruit over a stove.
As each piece becomes tender, remove it to a china bowl.
Once all apricots are tender, pour the syrup over them.
Dry and store
After a day or two, remove most of the syrup, leaving a little in each half.
Turn the apricots daily until completely dry, either in the sun or a warm place.
Store in boxes with layers of paper.
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 that softens, concentrates in flavour and dries into the finished product.
- Sugar
- Draws water out of the fruit and forms a syrup that sweetens and preserves it.
The step that matters
Turning the apricots daily until completely dry. Sugar-soaked fruit dries slowly, and turning exposes every surface to air. If it is left unturned or too damp, the pieces can stay sticky or begin to ferment before they fully dry.
“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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