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
Divide the plums and remove the stones.
Place the plums in a large dish and sprinkle with 1 pound of sugar.
Let the plums sit for one day.
Cook the jam
Transfer the plums to a preserving pan and simmer gently by the fire for about 1 hour.
Boil rapidly for another 16 minutes, removing any scum that rises.
Stir the jam continuously to prevent burning.
Optionally, crack some stones and add a few kernels just before finishing.
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 acidity that give the jam its body and tartness.
- Sugar
- Draws moisture out of the plums and sweetens, helping the jam thicken and keep.
The step that matters
Boil rapidly for the final 16 minutes. Sugar must be fully dissolved and the jam brought to a hard boil to reach setting point; too little boiling leaves it runny, while over-long cooking can scorch the sugar and darken the flavor. Stirring prevents sticking and burning.
“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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