Plum + Bartlett pear
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 28 recipes, and they share 32 flavor molecules: the top 9% of all ingredient pairs.
Do plum and bartlett pear go together?
Yes. 28 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 32 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 9% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of bartlett pear's flavor molecules (32 of 55) also occur in plum. Among the shared key aromas are 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit) and ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).
What each one brings
plum
The tartness. Sour notes make up 15% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 8% for bartlett pear. It carries 349 molecules bartlett pear doesn't have.
bartlett pear
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 54% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 25% for plum. It carries 23 molecules plum doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Pear: the best fit for both, top 1% of pairs with plum, top 7% with bartlett pear.
- Apple: top 2% of pairs with plum, top 10% with bartlett pear.
- Peach: top 1% of pairs with plum, top 15% with bartlett pear.
- Apricot: top 1% of pairs with plum, top 19% with bartlett pear.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with plum and bartlett pear
Almost always mains: 2 of the 2 recipes with a course label are mains.
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: plum has 349 molecules bartlett pear doesn't, and bartlett pear has 23 that plum doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 32 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 349 only in plum and the 23 only in bartlett pear.
Plum and bartlett pear questions
Do plum and bartlett pear go together?
A proven pairing. Cooks put them together in 28 recipes, and they share 32 flavor molecules: the top 9% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do plum and bartlett pear taste good together?
More than half of bartlett pear's flavor molecules (32 of 55) also occur in plum. Among the shared key aromas are 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit) and ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).
What goes with plum and bartlett pear?
Pear is the best third ingredient: top 1% of pairs with plum and top 7% with bartlett pear. Apple and peach also fit both.
What can you make with plum and bartlett pear?
Almost always mains: 2 of the 2 recipes with a course label are mains. Common dishes include Directions for Canning Fruit, Mixed Pickle (Spanish).
Can I use bartlett pear instead of plum?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: plum has 349 molecules bartlett pear doesn't, and bartlett pear has 23 that plum doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Plum vs Bartlett Pear. https://compkitchen.com/compare/plum-vs-bartlett-pear. Accessed 2026-11-05.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_plum_vs_bartlett_pear_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Plum vs Bartlett Pear},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/plum-vs-bartlett-pear},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-05}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.