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 ↓
Red Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Strip the currants from their stems and place them in a jar.
Set the jar in a kettle of hot water and boil for 1 hour.
Pour the currants and juice into a fine sieve.
Press out the juice.
Make the jelly
In a preserving pan, combine 1 pint of juice with 1 pound of sugar.
Set the pan over medium heat and stir until it reaches a jelly consistency.
Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
Once jellied and clear, pour the jelly into glasses.
Seal the glasses
Cover the jelly with round pieces of paper dipped in brandy.
Cover with white paper and twist at the top.
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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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 the juice that sets into the jelly and gives its tart flavour and colour.
- Double-refined sugar
- Sweetens the juice and, with its pectin and acid, helps the jelly set.
The step that matters
Stirring to the jelly point. Sugar and juice must be boiled until the mixture reaches the setting point. Too little cooking leaves a runny jelly, while overcooking can make it stiff, dull, or sugary. Skimming scum keeps the jelly clear.
“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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