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 ↓
Currants and Raspberries
Ingredients
Directions
In a porcelain-lined kettle, combine the raspberries, currant juice, and sugar.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Can the mixture as desired.
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.
-
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
- Raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor, body, and bulk of the preserve.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps thicken the preserve while preserving it.
- Currant juice
- Adds tartness and extra fruit flavor that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Bring the mixture to a boil. Boiling dissolves the sugar fully and drives off water so the preserve thickens. Boiling too briefly leaves it runny and less stable for canning.
“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
The 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.
Green Corn Pudding64 recipes
Cornmeal mush12 recipes