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Plums, to Preserve

A method for preserving plums in sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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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 ↓

Plums, to Preserve

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the syrup

  1. Combine water and sugar in a preserving pan and boil until it forms a thin syrup.

  2. Remove the stalks from the plums and prick them slightly to prevent breaking.

  3. Pour the syrup over the plums and let them sit for 2 days.

Cook the plums

  1. Transfer the plums and syrup back to the preserving pan and boil gently until the plums are tender.

  2. Carefully lift the plums into jars.

  3. Boil the syrup until it reaches the 'large thread' stage.

  4. Pour the syrup over the plums.

Seal and store

  1. Cover tightly.

  2. Store in a cool, dry place.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Form the fruit itself; gentle cooking softens them while pricking lets syrup penetrate.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, boiled into syrup, preserves it by drawing out water.
Water
Dissolves the sugar so it can form a syrup that the fruit absorbs.

The step that matters

Boiling the syrup to the large thread stage. Sugar concentration determines how well the plums keep. Syrup boiled too little stays watery and may spoil, while overcooking makes it too thick and hard. Judge the stage carefully before pouring it over 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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