Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Apple Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare and core the apples, then cut them into small pieces.
Combine the apples with sugar in a pot.
Cook and store
Boil over low heat until reduced to a fine pulp.
Transfer to jelly jars and store in a cool place.
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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Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together16,478 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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 apples
- Provide pectin and tart acidity, which help the mixture set and balance the sweetness.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps thicken the mixture as its water evaporates during reduction.
The step that matters
Boil over low heat until reduced to a fine pulp. Cooking slowly over low heat lets water evaporate gradually while the apples break down. Scorching is a risk when sugar and fruit thicken, so the mixture must be stirred and watched until it reaches a smooth, spreadable consistency.
“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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