Why it works: Black currant and sugar work together. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 393 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Black Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Pick the currants from the stalks, wash, and drain them.
Mash the currants with a spoon, then place them in a bag and squeeze out the juice.
Make the jelly
In a preserving kettle, combine the juice and sugar.
Boil for about 10 minutes, skimming well.
Immediately pour the jelly into glasses while warm.
Seal with parchment paper.
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.
-
Black currant + sugartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together393 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Black currants
- Provide the juice and natural pectin that let the jelly set.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps the jelly thicken and set as it cooks.
The step that matters
Skimming during the boil. Foam rises as the juice boils and can cloud the jelly or leave impurities in it. Skimming it off keeps the finished jelly clear and clean-tasting.
“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.
You might also like
Red Currant Jelly65 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Currant Sherbet9 recipes
Currant and Raspberry Ice7 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.