Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Mash the ripe berries and let them drain through a flannel bag without squeezing.
For each pint of juice, add 1 pound of sugar and the beaten egg white.
Heat the mixture until it boils, then remove from heat and skim off any scum.
Return to heat and boil until it reaches jelly consistency, testing by dropping a bit into cold water; it should sink as a solid mass.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ripe berries
- Provide the juice and natural pectin and flavor that set the jelly.
- White sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the juice thicken into a set gel when boiled.
- Egg white
- Binds to impurities so they rise as scum, which can then be skimmed off for a clearer jelly.
The step that matters
Boiling to jelly consistency. Jelly sets only after enough water evaporates and sugar and pectin reach the right concentration. Undercooking leaves it runny; overcooking can make it stiff or cloudy. The cold water test shows when it is ready.
“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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