Why it works: Sugar and red currant 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 ↓
Cherry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Stone the cherries.
Make the jam
Combine cherries, sugar, and red currant juice in a preserving pan.
Boil the mixture rapidly until it thickens.
Pour the jam into pots for storage.
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 + red curranttop 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, flavour, and pectin-free body that forms the jam's texture.
- Fine white sugar
- Sweetens and, as it dissolves and concentrates, helps the jam thicken and keep.
- Red currant juice
- Adds natural acidity and extra pectin to help the jam set and brighten its flavour.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture rapidly until it thickens. Rapid boiling drives off water and concentrates the sugar and fruit pectin so the jam sets. Too little boiling leaves it runny and prone to spoiling; overcooking can make it stiff and dull in flavour.
“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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