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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the oranges
Wash and peel the oranges like apples.
Place the peel in a porcelain-lined kettle with cold water, covering it, and boil until tender, adding more water if necessary.
Cut the oranges in half and squeeze out the juice and pulp into a bowl using a strainer.
Cover the white skins with cold water and boil for 30 minutes.
Drain the skins and pound off the soft part until you have 2 pounds and 4 ounces.
Chop or shred the tender peel, or grate the yellow rind.
Boil the shredded or grated peel in a muslin bag until soft.
Cook the marmalade
Combine the sugar, juice, and pulp with the pounded soft part.
Combine everything in a porcelain kettle and boil for about an hour, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
Test for thickness by cooling a spoonful on ice; when thick, pour into jars and cover with 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.
-
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
- Sour oranges
- Supply the peel, pulp and juice that give marmalade its bitter, tart flavor and pectin for setting.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and helps it thicken and set as it cooks down.
The step that matters
Stirring during the hour-long boil. Sugar-rich mixtures scorch easily on the bottom of the kettle as water evaporates. Frequent stirring keeps heat even and prevents burnt flavor and sticking.
“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.
More orange marmalade recipes
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.