Why it works: Sugar and red currant 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 ↓
Strawberry or Raspberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the strawberries or raspberries thoroughly.
For strawberries, combine 1 pound of fruit with 1 pound of sugar and ⅓ cup of red currant juice.
For raspberries, combine 1 pound of fruit with ½ pound of sugar and ⅓ cup of red currant juice.
Cook and set
Cook the mixture over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens.
Pour the jelly into molds and let it cool until set.
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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Sugar + red curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Strawberries or red raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and the body of the jelly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it thicken and set as it cooks.
- Red currant juice
- Adds natural pectin and acidity to help the jelly set.
The step that matters
Cooking until the mixture thickens. Cooking must dissolve the sugar and reach a thick consistency; undercooked jelly stays loose and may not set, while overcooking can make it stiff or caramelize the sugar.
“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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