Why it works: Egg and rum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 27% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,589 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Rum Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the clear liquid
Gently boil 1 cup of water for 1 minute, stirring until dissolved.
Add the whites of 2 eggs and simmer for 5-6 minutes.
Strain through a flannel bag until clear.
Flavour and set
Add ⅓ cup of rum and pour into a mold.
Set the mold in ice to chill.
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.
-
Egg + rumtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,589 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Water
- Forms the base liquid that the egg whites clarify and the rum is added to.
- Egg whites
- Coagulate as they heat, trapping impurities so the liquid can be strained clear.
- Rum
- Adds its alcohol flavour and aroma to the finished jelly.
The step that matters
Straining until clear. Straining slowly through a flannel bag lets the clear liquid pass while coagulated egg white and impurities stay behind. Pouring too fast or squeezing the bag can push cloudy particles through.
“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
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.