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 ↓
Cherry Jam, for Tarts or Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the cherries and break them apart as they cook.
Add the sugar and continue boiling.
After some time, add the currant juice.
Remove the cherry stones and let it boil once more.
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
- Sour cherries
- Provide the main fruit body, flavor and bulk of the jam.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set by binding water and thickening the fruit.
- Currant juice
- Adds extra tartness and natural pectin to help the jam set.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar and continuing to boil. Sugar must be fully dissolved and the mixture boiled long enough to reach the gel point; too little boiling leaves the jam runny, while overboiling can darken and scorch it.
“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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