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 ↓
Easpberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mash the raspberries in a preserving kettle.
Add the white sugar and currant juice.
Cook and jar
Boil gently until the mixture jellies on a cold plate.
Pour into small jars.
Cover with brandy paper and tie a thick white paper over them.
Store in a dark, dry, and cool 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.
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 main fruit flavour, colour and bulk of the jam.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and set.
- Currant juice
- Adds natural pectin and acidity to help the jam set.
The step that matters
Boil gently until the mixture jellies on a cold plate. Jam sets when enough pectin, acid and sugar concentrate as water evaporates. Cooking too briefly leaves it runny, while overcooking can scorch the sugar and dull the fresh flavour. Testing on a cold plate shows when it has reached setting point.
“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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