Why it works: Red currant and sugar 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 ↓
Delicious Red Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Gather red currants on a dry day, free from dust.
Weigh the currants and place them in a preserving pan with the powdered sugar.
Cook
Stir gently over a medium heat and bring to a boil.
Boil quickly for exactly 8 minutes from the first full boil.
Do not fill the pan more than two-thirds to prevent overflow.
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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Red currant + sugartop 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
- Red currants
- Provide natural pectin and acidity, which help the jam set and give it a bright, tart flavour.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and concentrates the fruit, helping the jam gel and keep well.
The step that matters
Boil quickly for exactly 8 minutes. Pectin and sugar set the jam as water evaporates. Too short a boil leaves the jam runny, while too long can break down the pectin and darken the flavour.
“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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