Why it works: Brandy and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,340 recipes. Both carry acetoin, which smells butter, cream. The science ↓
Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pick fresh raspberries and place them in a preserving pan.
Bruise the raspberries with the back of a wooden spoon.
Cook the jam
Heat the raspberries on the stove and boil for 30 minutes once it boils evenly.
Stir in 1 pound of sugar and continue boiling until the jam sets.
Skim off any foam to keep the jam clear.
Jar and store
Pour the hot jam into small jars.
Once cooled, place writing paper dipped in brandy on top and cover with tissue paper brushed with egg white or gum water.
Store the jars in a dry, airy place.
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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Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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 fruit, flavour and pectin-bearing body that the jam is built from.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set into a gel as it boils.
The step that matters
Skimming off the foam. Foam that forms on boiling fruit and sugar can cloud the jam and spoil its clear appearance, so it should be removed as it rises.
“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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