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Dessert

Fig Jam

A sweet preserve made from ripe figs, sugar, and water, cooked to a jam consistency.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Fig and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,241 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Fig Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the figs

  1. Remove stems from figs and treat with scalding soda solution, then rinse thoroughly.

  2. In a pot, crush the figs and add just enough water to start cooking.

Cook the jam

  1. Heat the mixture to boiling, then add the sugar.

  2. Cook rapidly until it reaches 221°F (105°C).

Jar and seal

  1. Pack the jam into jars while hot and seal immediately.

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. Fig + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Figs
Provide the bulk of the jam and its natural pectin and flavour.
Sugar
Sweetens the jam and helps it set into a thick, spreadable texture.
Water
Adds enough liquid to start cooking the crushed figs before they break down.

The step that matters

Cook rapidly until it reaches 221°F (105°C). Sugar and fruit only set into jam once enough water has evaporated and the sugar concentration is high. Stopping early leaves a runny jam, while cooking too long can make it stiff and sticky.

“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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