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 ↓
White or Green Plum
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Boil water, then blanch the plums to remove the skins.
Make the syrup and cook the plums
Combine 1 pound of sugar with enough water to make a syrup.
Boil the plums in the syrup for 20 minutes.
Finish
Allow the syrup to cool before pouring it over the plums.
If you prefer not to remove the skins, prick them before cooking.
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
- Plums
- Make up the fruit body of the jam, supplying the main flavor and texture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Boil the plums in the syrup for 20 minutes.. Heat and sugar must work together long enough to soften the fruit and concentrate the syrup. Too short a boil leaves the jam runny, while too long can scorch it or make it overly thick.
“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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