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 ↓
Scotch Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pare the outer rind of the oranges as thinly as possible.
Shred the rind very small.
Squeeze the juice from the oranges.
Put the juice in plenty of water.
Boil until the oranges are perfectly soft.
Drain the oranges.
Mash them smooth.
Add the strained juice from the pips to the mashed oranges.
Make the marmalade
For each pound of orange, add 1¼ pounds of fine loaf sugar.
Put the mixture into a preserving pan.
Add the shredded rinds when the mixture is nearly boiling.
Stir carefully until well thickened.
Pour into pots or molds to keep.
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.
-
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
- Thick-skinned seville oranges
- Provide the bitter peel and pectin-rich pulp that give marmalade its flavour and set.
- Fine loaf sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and, as it concentrates, helps it thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Stir carefully until well thickened. Sugar and pectin only set when the mixture is concentrated enough, and it can scorch on the base of the pan if not stirred. Stirring carefully keeps it from burning while it reaches setting point.
“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.
You might also like
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Orange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipes
Orange Gelatin100 recipes
Orange Sherbet73 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.