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 ↓
Currant Jelly Without Cooking
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Press juice from currants through a colander and strain it until not too thin.
Make the jelly
In a preserving kettle, mix the currant juice and white sugar thoroughly with a large spoon.
Skim off any white foam that forms on top.
Set and store
Seal the mixture into pint fruit jars and let them stand in the sun for two to three days.
Wrap the jars in brown paper and store them in a cool, dry place to prevent spoilage.
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
- Currant juice
- Provides the fruit flavour and the acid and pectin that let the mixture set.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set into a firm, spreadable gel.
The step that matters
Skim off the white foam. Foam on the surface is air and impurities rising from the boiling juice. If left in, it can cloud the jelly and spoil its texture, so it should be removed before sealing.
“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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