Why it works: Red currant and white currant share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4 recipes. Both carry isoamyl acetate, which smells banana, pear. The science ↓
Currant and Raspberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Bruise the currants and raspberries in a jar.
Place the jar in boiling water to extract the juice.
Make the jelly
Boil the water, isinglass, and saccharin together.
Allow the fruit juice to cool after straining.
Mix equal quantities of the fruit juice and sweetened isinglass.
Pour into shapes and place the jelly in ice.
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.
-
Red currant + white curranttop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red currants
- Provide the main juice, acidity and tart flavour that defines the jelly.
- White currants
- Add more juice and bright acidity to balance the sweetness.
- Red raspberries
- Add aroma and fruity flavour to the juice.
- Isinglass
- Sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
- Saccharin
- Adds sweetness without sugar.
The step that matters
Mixing the juice with the isinglass. Isinglass is a gelatine-like protein that sets as it cools. It must stay liquid when combined with the juice so the two blend evenly, and the jelly should be poured before it begins to set.
“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
Red Currant Jelly65 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Currant Sherbet9 recipes
Currant and Raspberry Ice7 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.