Why it works: Currant and sugar 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 ↓
Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Place currants in a crock or porcelain kettle and heat them until well heated through.
Squeeze out the juice and weigh an equal amount of granulated sugar.
Pour the juice back into the crock and heat it to boiling.
Make the jelly
Once it boils, immediately add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Remove from heat as soon as it boils again.
Pour the jelly into glasses.
Seal and store
Cut wrapping papers larger than the tops of the glasses.
Dip a paper in unbeaten egg white.
Cover the glass with the paper, pressing down the edges.
Add another paper in the same way.
Cover again.
Ensure the jelly is perfectly air-tight.
Tie the papers tightly around the glass.
Store the jelly in a cool, dry place, not in a cellar.
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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Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar 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
- Currants
- Provide the juice that sets with sugar and gives the jelly its flavour and colour.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with the fruit's pectin and acid, helps the juice set into a jelly.
The step that matters
Remove from heat as soon as it boils again. Jelly sets because sugar, pectin and acid concentrate as water evaporates. Overcooking can darken the flavour and cause the set to turn stiff or sugary, so timing matters.
“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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