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 ↓
Imperative Plum Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the plums
Remove the pits and skins from the plums.
Cook the marmalade
Place the plums in a preserving pan and boil them for 35 to 40 minutes until they are soft.
Stir in the sugar and continue to boil for an additional 15 minutes.
Once the mixture is thick and rich, remove it from the heat.
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 body, pectin and natural acidity that give the marmalade its flavour and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the marmalade and helps it thicken and keep as the mixture reduces.
The step that matters
Judging when the mixture is thick enough to remove from the heat. Sugar and fruit pectin set as water evaporates during boiling. Removing the pan too early leaves a runny marmalade, while boiling too long can make it stiff and dark.
“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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