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 ↓
Raspberry and Currant Preserve
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the currants
Pick over, wash, and drain the currants.
Put the currants into a preserving kettle, adding a few at a time, and mash them.
Cook for one hour.
Strain the mixture through a double thickness of cheesecloth.
Make the preserve
Return the strained mixture to the kettle, add sugar, heat to boiling point, and cook slowly for twenty minutes.
Add one quart of raspberries when the syrup again reaches boiling point.
Skim out the raspberries.
Put the mixture in a jar.
Repeat steps 6-8 until all raspberries are used.
Fill the jars to overflowing with syrup, and screw on the tops.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Raspberry | 1 cup (123g) | 64 |
| Grape | 1/2 cup (76g) | 62 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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
- Provide natural pectin and tart flavour that help the preserve set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and helps it set and keep well.
- Raspberries
- Add fresh raspberry flavour and aroma; added late so they cook only briefly.
The step that matters
Adding the raspberries at boiling point. Adding raspberries once the syrup boils and skimming them out promptly keeps their flavour and colour bright. Leaving them in the hot syrup too long lets them break down and turn dull.
“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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