Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Plum Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Cut the fruit away from the stones of the plums.
Layer plums and sugar in a preserving pan until all fruit is used, then let it stand for a day.
Make the stone syrup
Combine the stones, ¼ pound of sugar, and 1 pint of water in a saucepan; stew for 30 minutes.
Crack the stones to extract the kernels and add them to the jam for flavor.
Cook and jar
Simmer the jam gently for 30 minutes, then boil rapidly for 15 minutes, stirring constantly and removing scum.
Pour the jam into glass jars and seal tightly with parchment.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Plum + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,313 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + plumtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together794 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg plums
- Provide the fruit that gives the jam its body, flavor and natural pectin.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set and keep by drawing out water.
- Plum stones
- Their kernels add a subtle almond-like aroma to the jam.
The step that matters
Boiling rapidly while stirring and skimming. Rapid boiling concentrates the sugar and fruit until the jam reaches a set point; stirring prevents scorching on the pan bottom, and skimming removes foam so the jam stays clear.
Swap the plum
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonfits better
- Plumthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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