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 ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare and bake
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Place the plums in a baking dish and add the sugar on top without shaking it down.
Bake in the cool oven for 4 to 5 hours, or alternatively, steam for 3 hours.
Rest and seal
Leave the plums in the syrup for a few days to absorb the sweetness.
Seal the jars with a bladder and cover with paper or cork before baking.
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 fruit that softens and cooks down into the preserve, with natural pectin for body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and draws moisture out to form a thick syrup that helps preserve it.
The step that matters
Bake in the cool oven for 4 to 5 hours. A low, slow heat softens the plums and dissolves the sugar evenly without scorching the syrup or breaking the fruit apart too quickly.
“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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