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Dessert

Red Currant Jam

Jam made from red currants and sugar, boiled until set.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Red Currant Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Ensure the red currants are thoroughly ripe.

  2. Rub the currants through a matted sieve to remove stalks.

  3. Combine the mashed currants with the sugar in a pot.

Cook the jam

  1. Stir the mixture well from the bottom while boiling.

  2. Boil over a brisk heat for about 20 minutes if using 1 pound of currants.

  3. To test for doneness, drop a little jam on a plate and cool it; if it sets, it's done.

  4. If not set, boil a little longer.

Pot and store

  1. Pour the jam into pots and cover with paper soaked in brandy when cool.

  2. Seal with paper and store in a dry room.

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. Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,156 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Red currants
Provide the fruit, acidity and pectin that give the jam its flavour and body.
Sugar
Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and set as it cooks down.

The step that matters

Testing for set. Jam sets as its sugar and pectin concentrate during boiling and cooling. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff, so testing a cooled spoonful on a plate shows when it is ready.

“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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