Why it works: Currant and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the juice
Mash the currants with your hands until thoroughly broken.
Place the mashed currants in a strong thin cloth and squeeze out the juice.
Make the jelly
Measure 1 pound of sugar for every 1 pint of juice.
Boil the mixture for about 15 minutes.
Strain the jelly into small jars.
Set and seal
Let the jars stand uncovered in the sun for 3 to 4 days.
Wet a piece of paper with brandy and lay it on top of the jelly.
Cut the paper large enough to tie around the jar, brush it with egg white, and press it down tightly.
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.
-
Currant + brandytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Currant + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,734 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Their natural pectin and acid let the juice set into a firm jelly when boiled with sugar.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, with boiling, helps the juice thicken and set into jelly.
- Brandy
- Dampened paper laid on the jelly is brandy-soaked, helping to protect the surface from mold.
- Egg white
- Brushed on the paper cover, it helps the paper stick tightly to the jar as it dries.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar. Boiling for the right time concentrates the sugar and lets the pectin and acid form a gel. Too short a boil leaves the jelly runny, while overboiling can make it stiff or dark.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, brandy, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Apricotfits about as well
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, brandy, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
More currant jelly recipes
You might also like
Brandy Peaches68 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Brandy Cream21 recipes
Brandy Pudding13 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.