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Dessert

Syrup Plus Fruit

A method of preserving plums by packing them in boiled sugar syrup and sterilizing the jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Syrup Plus Fruit

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Dissolve the sugar in water slowly over low heat.

  2. Boil for 5 minutes.

  3. Let it cool until nearly cold.

  4. Filter the syrup through muslin until clear.

Pack the bottles

  1. Wipe the plums carefully.

  2. Pack the plums tightly in bottles without bruising.

  3. Fill the bottles to overflowing with syrup.

  4. Screw on the lids.

Sterilize and store

  1. Place the bottles in a sterilizer.

  2. Ensure they are completely covered with water.

  3. If the bottles are not submerged, use a tight-fitting lid on the sterilizer.

  4. Sterilize according to the time and temperature specified in your guide.

  5. Remove the bottles.

  6. Tighten the lids.

  7. Let them cool.

  8. Test the seals.

  9. Store in a cool, dry, dark 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. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + plumtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,313 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Plum + syruptop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together143 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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 that is preserved and packed in the syrup.
Granulated sugar
Dissolves into the water to make the syrup that preserves the fruit and adds sweetness.

The step that matters

Ensure the bottles are completely covered with water in the sterilizer. Fruit left above the water line can spoil, because air exposure allows mould and microbes to grow. Full submersion and a tight seal keep the contents protected during heat processing.

Swap the plum

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, syrup):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Pearfits better
  4. Plumthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, syrup. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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