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 ↓
Plum Butter
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select dead ripe damson plums.
Make the plum butter
Cook the plums in very little water until mushy.
Rub the cooked plums through a colander.
Use equal parts of plum pulp and sugar.
Stir the mixture as you would for apple butter.
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
- Damson plums
- Provide the main fruit pulp, flavor and natural pectin that thickens the butter.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps thicken the butter as it cooks down.
The step that matters
Stir the mixture as you would for apple butter.. Sugar and fruit pulp scorch easily on the bottom of the pan as water evaporates. Frequent stirring spreads heat evenly and prevents burning while the mixture thickens.
“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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