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 ↓
Black Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the red currant juice and pounded loaf sugar in a pot.
Boil the mixture for 15 minutes after it starts to bubble, stirring well.
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
- Red currant juice
- Provides the fruit flavor, tartness and liquid base of the jam.
- Pounded loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates during boiling, helps it thicken and set.
The step that matters
Boil for 15 minutes after bubbling starts, stirring well. Sugar can scorch on the bottom of the pot if not stirred, and the jam only thickens properly when enough water has evaporated during boiling. Stirring keeps the sugar dissolved and the heat even.
“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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