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 ↓
Cherbt Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Pit the cherries and place them in a pot.
Add the red currant juice and fine sugar.
Boil the mixture briskly until it thickens.
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
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit bulk, flavor, and pectin-containing body of the jam.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and set.
- Red currant juice
- Adds tartness and acidity that brightens flavor and supports setting.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture briskly until it thickens. Jam sets when sugar and fruit pectin reach sufficient concentration at a high enough temperature. Boiling too gently can leave it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and dull in flavor.
“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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