Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Four-fruit Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Mix the fruit together and put it into a linen bag.
Squeeze the bag thoroughly until it stops dripping.
Measure the juice; for every 1 pint of juice, add 1 pound and 2 ounces of sugar.
Cook the jelly
Mix the juice and sugar in a preserving kettle.
Boil for half an hour, skimming frequently.
To test, hold a spoonful of jelly in the open air; if it congeals readily, it is done.
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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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and, with the fruit pectin and acid, helps it set firm.
- Strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and juice for the jelly.
- Raspberries
- Add aroma and juice, blending the fruit flavours together.
- Currants
- Contribute natural pectin and acidity that help the jelly set and brighten its flavour.
- Red cherries
- Add juice, body and a rounded fruit flavour to the jelly.
The step that matters
Boil for half an hour, skimming frequently. Boiling concentrates the juice and sugar so the pectin and acid can gel. Skimming removes foam and scum, keeping the jelly clear and clean-tasting. Stop when the spoon test sets.
“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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