Why it works: Quince and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,444 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Quince Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the quinces
Quarter and core the quinces, then cover them with water.
Boil the quinces until tender, checking with a fork.
Strain and add sugar
Strain the liquid through a flannel bag and measure it.
For each pint of juice, add 1 pound of white sugar.
Cook to a gel
Place the mixture in a preserving kettle over heat, watching closely to prevent boiling over.
Test the mixture on a saucer; when it begins to gel, it is done.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Quince + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,444 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe quinces
- Quinces are rich in pectin, the natural substance that lets the juice set into a gel.
- White sugar
- Sugar sweetens the jelly and helps it set firmly as the liquid thickens.
The step that matters
Testing for the gel point on a saucer. Judging by eye can leave jelly runny or overcooked. A cooled saucer test shows when the concentrated sugar and pectin mixture has reached the gel point, where it wrinkles when pushed.
“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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