Skip to main content
Dessert

Candied Fruits

A sweet preserve made by boiling fruit in sugar syrup and drying.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Pear and plum match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 245 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Candied Fruits

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the syrup and soak

  1. Boil the fruits in a thick syrup made from ½ cup water and 1 pound sugar until tender.

  2. Remove from heat and let the fruits sit in the syrup for two days.

Dry and finish

  1. Take the fruits out, drain them, sprinkle sugar over each piece, and dry in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C).

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. Pear + plumtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Peach + plumtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Pear + quincetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together133 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  4. Peach + peartop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together114 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Plum + quincetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together92 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, at high concentration, preserves it by drawing out water.
Peaches
Main fruit that softens when simmered and absorbs syrup, becoming sweet and translucent.
Pears
Main fruit that softens when simmered and absorbs syrup, becoming sweet and translucent.
Plums
Main fruit that softens when simmered and absorbs syrup, becoming sweet and translucent.
Cherries
Main fruit that softens when simmered and absorbs syrup, becoming sweet and translucent.
Quinces
Main fruit that softens when simmered and absorbs syrup, becoming sweet and translucent.

The step that matters

Letting the fruit sit in the syrup for two days. Sugar must replace the water in the fruit gradually. Resting in the syrup lets the concentration rise slowly, so the fruit keeps its shape and preserves well rather than shrinking or fermenting.

Swap the quince

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, peach, pear, plum):

  1. Apricotfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Applefits better
  4. Quincethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, peach, pear, plum. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

You might also like

Mixed Fruit SherbetMixed Fruit Sherbet6 recipesQuince JellyQuince Jelly131 recipesPeach Ice CreamPeach Ice Cream64 recipesPeach FrittersPeach Fritters55 recipes