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
Remove the stones from the plums or gash them with a silver knife and remove the stones as they rise in the pan.
Spread the plums on large dishes and sprinkle with 3 pounds of sugar. Let sit for 24 hours.
Cook the jam
Transfer the plums to a preserving pan and bring gently to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent burning.
Remove the scum as it rises, then boil the plums quickly for 15 minutes.
If desired, crack a few stones, peel the kernels, and add them to the jam 2-3 minutes before removing from heat.
The jam is ready when it sets and the plums are tender.
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
- Provide the fruit, pectin and acid that give the jam its body and flavor.
- Sugar
- Draws water out of the fruit and helps the jam thicken and set while preserving it.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil gently, then boil quickly. Stirring with a wooden spoon prevents the sugar and fruit from scorching on the base of the pan. Once the jam is boiling, a quick, hard boil for the stated time helps it reach the setting point without overcooking the fruit.
“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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