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 Preserve
Ingredients
Directions
Make the preserve
Extract juice from plums.
Strain the juice through a jelly bag.
Weigh the juice.
Boil the juice rapidly for 25 minutes.
Add 3 lbs of sugar to the juice.
Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
Continue boiling the mixture for 10 minutes.
Remove any scum that forms.
Pour the preserve into small molds or pans.
Let it set.
Make the plum cheese
Skin and stone the remaining plums for the cheese.
Boil the plums for 1 hour and 15 minutes over a brisk fire, stirring constantly.
Add 1 lb of powdered sugar to the plums.
Boil the plums for another 30 minutes.
Press the mixture into shallow pans or molds.
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
- Provide the fruit flavor, natural pectin and acid that help the jam set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, once boiled down, helps the preserve thicken and set.
The step that matters
Boil the juice and sugar until the preserve sets. Boiling drives off water so the sugar and fruit pectin concentrate and gel as the mixture cools. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while boiling too long can darken and scorch it.
“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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