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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fruit
Boil the currants in a preserving kettle for 15-20 minutes.
Stir often.
Skim off any scum.
Add the sugar in the proportion of ¾ pound sugar to 1 pound fruit or 1 coffee cup sugar to 1 pint mashed fruit.
Boil for an additional 30 minutes.
Stir almost constantly.
Jar and seal
Pour the jam into small jars or glasses.
Seal or secure like jelly by pressing paper down on the fruit.
Cover with larger papers brushed on the inside with egg white.
Turn the edges down over the outside of the glass.
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 fruit base and natural pectin and acid that give the jam its body and tang.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it cooks down, helps it thicken and keep well.
The step that matters
Stirring during the final boil. Once the sugar is added and the jam is boiling for the last 30 minutes, it can scorch on the bottom of the kettle. Stirring almost constantly keeps the sugar and fruit from sticking and burning, which would give the jam a bitter, caramelised taste.
“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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