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Dessert

Figs, Prunes, and Raisins

A simple stewed mixture of figs, prunes, and raisins cooked in cold water and served with bread and grated coconut.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and raisin work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 737 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Figs, Prunes, and Raisins

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Fill an earthenware stew jar three-quarters full with figs, prunes, or raisins.

  2. Cover the fruit with cold water, ensuring the water is half an inch above the fruit.

Stew and serve

  1. Put on a lid and stew in a 300 °F (150 °C) oven for 1½ to 2 hours.

  2. Serve stewed raisins with bread and grated coconut for breakfast.

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 + raisintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together737 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
Soften slowly in gentle heat, becoming tender and sweet as their sugars concentrate.
Prunes
Soften slowly in gentle heat, becoming tender and sweet as their sugars concentrate.
Raisins
Soften slowly in gentle heat, becoming tender and sweet as their sugars concentrate.

The step that matters

Covering the fruit with water and keeping the lid on. The fruit must stay submerged and the jar sealed so it stews gently in moist heat. If the water evaporates, the fruit can dry out and scorch rather than softening evenly.

“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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