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Dessert

Plum Jelly

A sweet preserve made by simmering ripe plums and sugar until the mixture sets.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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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 Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Extract the juice

  1. Place ripe plums in a preserving pan.

  2. Add enough water to cover them.

  3. Heat slowly and simmer until the plums mash easily.

  4. Pour the mixture into a flannel jelly bag.

  5. Let it drip until the pulp is dry.

Make the jelly

  1. Boil the juice rapidly for 20 minutes, skimming often.

  2. Remove from heat.

  3. Measure the juice.

  4. Return it to the pan.

  5. Once it boils again, add an equal amount of sugar to the juice.

  6. Boil until it jellies, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Set and store

  1. Pour into tumblers.

  2. Let sit for 2 to 3 days.

  3. Cover with paper.

  4. Store in a cool, dry place.

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.

  1. Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Ripe plums
Provide the fruit flesh and natural pectin and acid that help the juice set into jelly.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, with boiling, helps the juice reach a firm, spreadable set.
Water
Draws juice from the plums during slow simmering so they can be strained.

The step that matters

Boil until it jellies. Jelly sets only when enough water evaporates and sugar and pectin reach the right concentration. Undercooking leaves it runny; overcooking can make it stiff or cloudy.

“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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