Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Four Fruit Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fruit
Combine all the fruit in a pot with the sugar.
Place over high heat and boil steadily.
Once the sugar is melted and the fruit is dissolved, remove from heat when the mixture begins to rise.
Strain and store
Strain through a sieve into small jars.
Cover with oiled tissue paper, seal, and store in a cool, dry place.
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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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and, with the fruit's natural pectin, helps it set and keep.
- Cherries
- Adds fruit flavour and body to the jelly.
- Currants
- Adds tart fruit flavour and natural pectin to help the jelly set.
- Strawberries
- Adds fruit flavour and body to the jelly.
- Raspberries
- Adds fruity aroma and body to the jelly.
The step that matters
Remove from heat when the mixture begins to rise. Boiling drives off water and concentrates the sugar and pectin so the jelly can set. Removing it too early leaves it runny and spoilable, while boiling too long makes it stiff and can caramelise the sugar.
“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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