Why it works: Red currant and sugar 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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pass the strawberries through a fine sieve.
Add red currant juice according to the quantity of strawberries.
Weigh the same amount of sifted loaf sugar as the fruit and add it to the mixture.
Boil and test
Boil over a bright fire, stirring constantly in a figure of eight to prevent sticking.
After 10 minutes, remove from heat and test a small amount on a plate; it should retain the mark of the scraper.
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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Red currant + sugartop 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
- Scarlet strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and the body of the jam once cooked down.
- Red currant juice
- Adds tartness and natural pectin to help the jam set.
- Sifted loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and set as it boils.
The step that matters
Testing the set on a plate. Jam sets as it reaches a high enough sugar concentration and temperature; boiling too briefly leaves it runny, while boiling too long can make it stiff. A cold plate test shows whether it has reached setting point.
“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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