Why it works: Sugar and currant 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 ↓
Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Combine equal weights of raspberries and moist sugar in a pot.
Heat over medium heat, stirring and breaking the fruit until the sugar melts.
Boil until the mixture jellies on a plate, about 20-30 minutes.
For extra juice, add the juice of currants, prepared as for jelly.
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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Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant 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
- Raspberries
- Provide the fruit flavour, bulk and natural pectin-bearing pulp that forms the jam.
- Moist sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps the mixture set.
- Currants
- Add extra juice and natural pectin and acidity to help the jam set.
The step that matters
Boil until the mixture jellies on a plate. Sugar and fruit must concentrate until the pectin and acid can form a gel. Undercooking leaves a runny jam, while overcooking makes it stiff and dull in 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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