Why it works: Sugar and cherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,598 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cherry Jelly in Moulds
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Boil the cherries until they turn to pulp, about 20 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag.
Measure the liquid and add 3/4 pound of sugar for each pint.
Return to the pan and boil again.
Add the melted isinglass and strain through a jelly bag into a mould.
Set and chill
Set the mould in a cool place or ice chest until ready to serve.
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 + cherrytop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,598 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Morella cherries
- Provide the fruit pulp and juice that form the body and flavour of the jelly.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the set jelly its body and gloss.
- Isinglass
- Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the juice into a sliceable jelly as it cools.
The step that matters
Adding the isinglass to the boiled juice. Isinglass must be melted and added to hot, sugared juice, then strained promptly. If it is allowed to cool or is over-boiled, it may not dissolve fully or set evenly, so the jelly can come out soft or cloudy.
“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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