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 Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the plums
Wash the plums and stew them with enough water to prevent scorching.
Mash the plums and strain through a colander.
Sweeten and boil
Add 1 pound of sugar to 1 pint of pulp.
Dissolve the sugar and boil until it becomes a smooth mass.
Finish
Use leftover plums from juice for jelly.
Sift to remove stones and skins.
Add ½ pound of sugar to 1 pint of pulp and boil slowly, stirring well to prevent burning, until smooth and thick.
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
- Supply the pulp and natural pectin that help the marmalade thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pulp and, as it boils down, helps the marmalade thicken and set.
The step that matters
Boil slowly and stir while adding the second sugar. Sugar-rich pulp thickens as water evaporates, and it can scorch on the bottom of the pan. Stirring well keeps the mixture from burning and sticking while it reaches a smooth, thick texture.
“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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