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 ↓
Jam, White or Red Currant
Ingredients
Directions
Pick the currants carefully.
Layer the currants and sugar alternately in a preserving pan.
Boil for 10 minutes.
Alternatively, boil in clarified sugar that has been boiled to a high candy stage.
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 fruit flavour, natural acidity and pectin that help the jam set.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, at high concentration, helps preserve it and firm up its set.
The step that matters
Boil for 10 minutes. Sugar and fruit acid need enough heat and time to concentrate and let the pectin gel. Boiling too briefly leaves the jam runny, while overboiling can make it stiff and dull in colour.
“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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