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 ↓
Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Extract the juice
Bruise the currants and steam them or place them in a covered dish in a 300°F (150°C) oven until the juice flows.
Boil the juice in a preserving pan for 15 minutes to evaporate some water.
Skim the juice and strain it through a flannel bag to clarify.
Make the jelly
Add 1½ pounds of sugar to 1 pint of juice and simmer gently until the jelly thickens.
Remove from heat and let it sit until scum forms on the surface; then remove the scum.
Strain the jelly through a hair sieve and pour it into pots.
Finish
Once cool, cover the surface with jelly paper soaked in brandy.
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
- Currants
- Their natural pectin and acid help the juice set into a firm jelly.
- Refined sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set by binding water and concentrating the juice.
The step that matters
Simmering the juice with sugar until it thickens. Too little cooking leaves the jelly runny, while overcooking can make it stiff or caramelise the sugar. Pectin and acid need enough concentration to gel, so judging the thickening point matters.
“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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