Why it works: Peach and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,308 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Peach Conserve
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Halve the peaches and remove the stones.
Peel the peaches.
Sugar and sun dry
Roll the peaches in powdered sugar until they no longer absorb it.
Place the peaches cut side up on a plate and lay them in the sun.
The next morning, roll the peaches in sugar again.
Once the juice is set in the peaches, turn them cut side down to sun dry.
When thoroughly dry, pack them in glass jars or fig-drums.
Serve
To serve, stew the peaches in a porcelain pot with a little water for a few minutes.
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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Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Peaches
- Provide the fruit that is concentrated, sweetened and dried into a preserve with a soft, chewy texture.
- Powdered white sugar
- Draws moisture out of the fruit and coats it, adding sweetness and helping the preserve keep.
The step that matters
Drying until thoroughly dry before packing. Sugar and sun drying remove water from the peaches. If they are packed while still moist, the remaining water can allow mould or fermentation in the jars, so they must be fully dry first.
“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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