Why it works: Sugar and currant 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 ↓
Raspberry, Currant, or Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fruit
Boil the raspberries or currants for 30 minutes until broken.
Boil the gooseberries for nearly 1 hour until broken.
Add sugar and finish
Add sugar to the boiled fruit and boil for an additional 25 to 30 minutes.
Stir frequently and remove any scum that forms.
For gooseberry jam, add a small quantity of red or black currant juice for improved flavor.
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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Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant 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
- Raspberries or currants
- Provides the main flavor and body of the jam.
- Gooseberries
- Adds tartness and body to the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set and keep.
The step that matters
Boiling the fruit and sugar until broken and thickened. Sugar, fruit pectin and acid must reach a high enough concentration to set the jam. Boiling too briefly leaves it runny, while the fruit must break down fully first so pectin is released into the mixture.
“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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