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 ↓
Mogul Plums
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Select the finest plums and remove any specks.
Slit and stone the plums, then prick them with a fine needle.
Make the syrup and cook
Sift some sugar over the plums as you layer them in a pan.
Prepare a thin cold syrup and place the plums slit side down in it.
Gently boil the plums, frequently shaking them in the syrup.
Skim the syrup well and ensure the plums are covered to retain their color.
When the plums are thoroughly scalded, sprinkle the remaining sugar over them.
Continue boiling until the plums are glazed, then boil quickly at the end.
Store
Transfer the finished plums into jars for storage.
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.
-
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
- Plums
- Form the main body of the preserve and absorb the syrup as the fruit cooks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as it dissolves into the syrup, helps preserve and glaze the plums.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar to make the thin syrup that cooks and covers the plums.
The step that matters
Keep the plums covered and skim the syrup. Plums exposed above the syrup can darken and lose colour, and skimming removes foam and impurities so the syrup stays clear and glossy.
“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.
More mogul plums recipes
You might also like
Mixed Fruit Sherbet6 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.