Why it works: Rose and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,584 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Rose Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the roses
In June, pick the leaves of red roses without washing them.
Chop the leaves using a food chopper with the finest knife.
Mix the chopped leaves with an equal measure of sugar.
Cook the jam
Boil the mixture, stirring constantly for 20 minutes.
For each pint of jam, make a rich syrup with 1 cup of water and boil gently for 20 minutes.
Add the rose jam to the syrup and bring to a boil.
Pour into glasses and cover as you would with other jelly.
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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Rose + sugartop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 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
- Leaves of red roses
- Provide the main flavour and aroma of the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set into a thick preserve.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar to form the syrup the rose leaves cook in.
The step that matters
Boiling the mixture while stirring constantly. Sugar and chopped leaves can scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred, giving a burnt taste. Constant stirring keeps the mixture even while it thickens and reduces.
“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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