Why it works: Grape and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,490 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grape Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Stem the Concord grapes.
Keep them boiling in an uncovered agate saucepan on the back of the stove for four hours, stirring occasionally.
Mash the grapes with a wooden potato masher. Stir with a wooden spoon.
Boil gently for another hour until the seeds drop out, stirring often to prevent burning.
When cool enough, strain the mixture through a piece of new canton flannel wrung out in cold water, one cupful at a time.
Measure the juice precisely.
Make the jelly
Place an equal amount of granulated sugar on pans in the oven to heat without melting, stirring occasionally.
While the sugar heats, cook the juice in a clean uncovered agate saucepan for half an hour without stirring, skimming at the end of each fifteen minutes.
Add the hot sugar to the juice. Stir until dissolved.
Boil gently for five minutes without stirring. Skim the mixture.
Boil again for five minutes. Skim again.
It is ready to put in glasses.
Jar and set
Place a silver teaspoon in each glass. Fill to the top, removing the spoon immediately to prevent discoloration.
Let the jelly sit uncovered for a day in a dry place or in the sunshine.
Cover with rounds of writing paper dipped in brandy or alcohol and tie securely.
Ensure no water touches the grapes. Do not wash them. Make sure all utensils are perfectly dry and clean.
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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Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Concord grapes
- Provide the fruit juice and natural pectin that set the jelly.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set to a firm, spreadable texture.
The step that matters
Skimming and boiling the juice without stirring. Stirring during the long boil can break up the forming gel and cloud the jelly, and skimming removes foam and seed debris so the finished jelly stays clear.
“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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