Why it works: Rhubarb and cherry share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 37 recipes mention both. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jam
Cook rhubarb in water until tender.
Add sugar, stirring constantly, and cook a few minutes.
Add pie filling and cook 10 minutes, breaking up the cherries a bit.
Remove from heat and stir jello until dissolved.
Jar and store
Pour into jars and seal or store in refrigerator or freezer.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Rhubarb + cherrytop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together37 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Rhubarb + sugartop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,852 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + cherrytop 11% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together2,598 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rhubarb
- Provides the tart base and most of the body as it softens into the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and set as it cooks.
- Cherry pie filling
- Adds cherry flavour, colour and sweetness along with more thickening.
- Cherry jello
- Adds gelling agents and extra cherry flavour to help the jam set.
The step that matters
Stirring in the sugar. Sugar added to hot rhubarb can scorch on the bottom of the pan if not stirred constantly, which gives a burnt taste. Constant stirring keeps it dissolving evenly.
“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
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.