Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Stewed Prunes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Rinse the prunes well.
Soak the prunes in ½ pint of cold water the day before cooking.
Add the sugar and lemon juice to the soaked prunes.
Cook and serve
Transfer everything to a stone jar, cover, and cook in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 2 hours.
Serve in a glass dish, optionally with a little junket.
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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Prunes
- Form the main body of the dish and soften into a tender, moist fruit during slow cooking.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the tartness of the prunes and lemon.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness and sharpens the flavour of the fruit.
The step that matters
Cook low and slow with the lid on. A slow oven with the jar covered lets the prunes soften gradually and keep their moisture. Higher heat or an uncovered dish can dry the fruit and toughen the skins before the flesh becomes tender.
“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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