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Dessert

Fig or Prune Shape

A gelatin dessert made with figs or prunes, sugar, and gelatin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,241 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Fig or Prune Shape

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Cut the figs into quarters or use the prunes whole.

  2. Remove the stones from the prunes if using.

Stew

  1. Place the figs or prunes in a saucepan and cover with water.

  2. Add the gelatine and sugar, then stew for 2 hours.

  3. Ensure the mixture reduces to 1 pint.

Set

  1. Pour the mixture into a mold to set.

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. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Figs or prunes
Provide the main fruit flavour and sweetness, and body as they soften during stewing.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable gel once it cools.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the fruit's natural tartness.

The step that matters

Reducing the mixture to 1 pint. Gelatine only sets well at the right concentration. If the liquid is too dilute after stewing, the gel will be soft or fail to set; if over-reduced, it may become too firm and sweet.

“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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