Why it works: Grape and corn work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 333 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Jelly Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Melt the sugar and grape jelly in boiling water over medium heat.
Dissolve the corn starch in cold water and stir it into the mixture.
Bring to a boil and it will be ready for use.
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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Grape + corntop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together333 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + grapetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corn starch
- Thickens the sauce as it heats, giving it body and a glossy, spoonable texture.
- Grape jelly
- Adds sweetness, fruity flavour and colour to the sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the tartness of the jelly.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil. Cornstarch only thickens fully once the mixture reaches a boil. Stopping short leaves the sauce thin, while stirring it in unevenly can cause lumps.
Swap the grape
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, corn):
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Figfits better
- Grapethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, corn. 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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