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 ↓
Bteawberhy Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the currant juice
Strip the currants from the stalks and place them in a jar.
Put the jar in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer until the juice is extracted.
Strain the currants and measure the juice, then add it to a preserving pan with the sugar.
Make the jam
Pick the strawberries from the stalks and add them to the pan once the sugar is dissolved.
Simmer the mixture over medium heat for 30 to 45 minutes, removing any scum that rises.
Stir gently to prevent burning, keeping the fruit as whole as possible.
Pour the jam into jars and cover once cooled.
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
- Strawberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and the body of the jam.
- Red-currant juice
- Adds tartness and natural pectin to help the jam set.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it set and keep well.
The step that matters
Stir gently while simmering. Sugar concentrates on the bottom of the pan and can scorch, so stirring prevents burning. Gentle stirring keeps the strawberries whole instead of breaking them down into a purée.
“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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