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 Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Rub the oranges with the sugar to extract the fragrant oil.
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and the strained juice of the oranges.
Stir in the cornflour and Marsala.
Boil the mixture, ensuring it doesn't become too thick.
If it does become too thick, add more juice from another orange.
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
- Oranges
- Provide juice and fragrant oil from the peel for flavour and body.
- Cornflour
- Thickens the sauce as it boils, giving it body.
- Marsala
- Adds liquid and a sweet, fortified wine flavour to the sauce.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture without letting it over-thicken. Cornflour thickens as it heats and gelatinises starch, so the sauce can turn too thick quickly. Keeping it fluid and adding juice if needed keeps the texture smooth and pourable.
“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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