Why it works: Plum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,313 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Plum Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Place any quantity of red plums into a stone jar.
Cover the jar with a clean cloth and set it in a pot of water.
Boil the plums until they are soft, about one hour.
Measure the pulp into a preserving pan, using six pints of fruit.
Make the jam
Add four pounds of sugar to the pulp.
Cook until the mixture is thick and ropy.
Pour the jam into jars and seal.
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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Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 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
- Red plums
- Provide the fruit pulp, natural pectin and acidity that give the jam its body and tang.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, once concentrated by cooking, helps the jam thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Cook until thick and ropy. Sugar and fruit pectin set the jam only after enough water has evaporated. Stopping early leaves a runny jam, while cooking too long can make it stiff and scorch on the bottom of the pan.
“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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