Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cranberry Raisin Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Stew the raisins in water for 10 minutes.
Add the cranberries and sugar.
Cook slowly until the berries are clear and transparent.
Shake the pot often while cooking, but do not stir.
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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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 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
- Cranberries
- Provide the tart fruit body and pectin that help the jam thicken as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps preserve the jam while thickening the fruit.
- Stoned raisins
- Add concentrated sweetness and soften into the jam, adding body to the fruit.
The step that matters
Cook slowly and do not stir. Slow cooking lets the berries clear and set gently without scorching on the bottom. Stirring can break the fruit apart and make the jam cloudy, so shaking the pot keeps the mixture moving without damaging the berries.
“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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