Name: Plum Chocolates
Ingredients: 2 dozen ripe plums; 7 pounds sugar; 1 pint water; 2½ ounces gelatin; chocolate for dipping

Why it works: Sugar and gelatin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,778 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Plum Chocolates

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pulp

Remove the stones from the plums and place them in a fine sieve.
Squeeze the plums through the sieve to extract the pulp.

Cook the mixture

In a kettle, combine the plum pulp, sugar, and water.
Cook the mixture until it reaches 240°F (115°C).
Quickly add the dissolved gelatin and stir.
Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 248°F (120°C) or 250°F (121°C).

Set and finish

Pour the mixture into oval-shaped starch prints and let it set.
Once set, dip the candies in chocolate.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + gelatintop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,778 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Gelatin + chocolatetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together228 recipes

Shared aroma: maltol (caramel, sweet).
Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,313 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Plum + chocolatetop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together53 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-methyl-1-butanol (fusel, malty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Plums: Provide the fruit pulp that gives the candy its flavor and body.
Sugar: Provides sweetness and, when cooked to temperature, firms into a sliceable, chewy set.
Gelatin: Sets the cooked mixture into a firm, tender gel as it cools.
Water: Dissolves the sugar and helps the mixture reach the cooking temperatures evenly.

The step that matters

Adding the gelatin at the right point. Gelatin is added after the mixture reaches 240°F, then cooking continues to a higher temperature. Adding it too early or stirring poorly can leave it unevenly dispersed or weakened, so the candy may not set firmly.