Why it works: Sugar and red currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cherry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the syrup
Boil the cherry kernels in a little water to draw out the flavor.
Weigh the pitted cherries.
Measure 2 pounds of sugar for every 2 pounds of fruit.
In a preserving pan, combine the sugar with ½ cup of the water used for boiling the kernels.
Add enough water or red currant juice to make up the measure.
Boil the mixture to create a syrup for about 10 minutes.
Cook the jam
Add the cherries to the syrup.
Boil quickly until it reaches the jelling point, about 40 minutes.
Jar and seal
Pour the jam into jars.
Cover with brandied paper.
Seal with paper dipped in gum.
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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Sugar + red curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit, flavor and bulk that the jam is built around.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates, helps it set to a jelly.
The step that matters
Boil quickly until the jelling point is reached. Sugar and pectin set only at a sufficient concentration. Undercooking leaves the jam runny, while overcooking over a long period can darken and toughen it, so the jelling point must be tested carefully.
“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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