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 ↓
Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Wash and strain the currants.
Boil the juice and skim off any foam.
Use only the first juice that flows through the straining bag for a clearer jelly.
Make the jelly
For each pound of juice, add one pound of loaf sugar.
Measure the boiled juice, then combine the sugar with a little water to make a syrup.
Add the syrup to the juice and boil rapidly until done.
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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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 the natural pectin and acid that give the juice its jelling power and tartness.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set firm by binding water and pectin.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar into a syrup so it blends evenly into the juice.
The step that matters
Boil rapidly until done. Rapid boiling evaporates water and concentrates sugar and pectin so the mixture reaches the gel point. Boiling too gently or too long changes the set and flavour, so the cook must watch for the jelly to set.
“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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