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 ↓
Damson or Plum Cheese
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fruit
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Place the ripe fruit in a stone jar and bake until soft.
While warm, skin and stone the fruit, then rub it through a colander into the juice.
Make the paste
In a preserving pan, combine the fruit pulp with sugar and boil quickly, stirring continuously until it becomes a stiff paste.
If desired, stir in some blanched kernels of the fruit.
Remove the paste and press it into rinsed moulds or shallow pots, about 1¼ inches thick.
Set and store
Let it cool for several hours, then cover with brandied paper and store in a dry place.
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
- Damsons or plums
- Provide the fruit pulp that sets into the cheese's body and gives its tart flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cheese and, with boiling, helps the pulp thicken into a stiff paste that holds its shape.
The step that matters
Boiling the pulp with sugar until a stiff paste. Boil quickly while stirring constantly so the pulp does not scorch on the pan base. Fruit pectin and sugar concentrate as water evaporates, so the paste sets firm enough to turn out and slice once cooled.
“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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