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 ↓
English Guava
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Strip the stalks from the bullaces and cut part of them.
Place the bullaces and plums into stone jars.
Put the jars in pans of water and boil them for 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain off the juice and strain it through a thick strainer or jelly‑bag.
Make the jelly
Weigh the juice and boil it quickly for 15 to 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in ¾ pound of sugar for every pound of juice until dissolved.
Carefully remove the scum and boil the preserve again for 8 to 12 minutes, or longer if it doesn't set.
Pour the jelly into shallow pans or small molds and let it cool before serving.
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
- Shepherd's bullace
- Provides the main fruit flavour and natural pectin that helps the jam set.
- Imperatrice plums
- Add extra body and colour, and contribute pectin to help the jelly set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and, with boiling, helps it set and keeps it preserved.
The step that matters
Boiling the preserve again after adding sugar. Sugar and acid need enough boiling to reach the concentration at which pectin forms a firm gel. Boiling too briefly leaves the jelly runny, so test for a set and boil longer if needed.
“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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