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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the stones and blemishes from the apricots and cut them into pieces.
In a mortar, break the loaf sugar and combine it with the apricots in a pot.
Cook and jar
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula to prevent burning.
To check if it's done, dip your finger into the mixture; if it forms a thread when pressed against your thumb, it's ready.
Remove from heat and transfer to jars for storage.
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 base, along with pectin and natural acidity that help the marmalade thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps the mixture thicken and keeps it preserved.
The step that matters
Stirring while cooking. Sugar-rich fruit scorches easily on the bottom of the pot, and constant stirring keeps the mixture from burning while it thickens.
“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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