Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Prepare the raspberries by washing them thoroughly.
In a large porcelain-lined kettle, combine the raspberries, currant juice, grated lemon peel, and lemon juice.
Add the sugar and stir well.
Cook and jar
Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently until it reaches a rolling boil.
Continue boiling for about 10-15 minutes until it thickens.
Pour the hot jam into sterilized glass jars and seal immediately.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Currant + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and the bulk of the jam's body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and keep well.
- Currant juice
- Adds extra natural pectin and tartness to help the jam set.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens flavour and supports gel formation.
The step that matters
Boil until it thickens. Jam sets when pectin, acid and sugar reach the right concentration during boiling. Undercooking leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and dull in flavour, so watch for thickening rather than relying only on the clock.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon):
- Orangefits better
- Limefits better
- Vanillafits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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