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 ↓
Raspberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Pick the raspberries and red currants, then press the juice through a sieve into a pan.
Cover the pan and place it in a cool place for three days.
After three days, raise the thick skin formed on top and pour the juice into another vessel.
Make the jelly
Weigh the juice and add half the quantity of sugar to it in a preserving pan.
Set the pan on the fire and remove the scum that rises.
Cook for one hour, then test the consistency by pouring a few drops on a cold plate.
If it cools to the proper jelly consistency, remove from heat and pour into pots.
Allow the jelly to cool completely before covering the pots.
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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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
- Raspberries
- Provide the main flavour, colour and aroma of the jelly.
- Red currants
- Supply natural pectin and acidity that help the juice set into a firm jelly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set and keep once the juice is concentrated.
The step that matters
Testing the consistency on a cold plate. Sugar, fruit acid and pectin only form a firm gel at the right concentration. Stopping too early leaves the jelly runny, while cooking too long makes it stiff and dull.
“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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