Why it works: Red currant and sugar 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 ↓
To Make Red Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Pick the currants off the stalks and place them in a pitcher.
Set the pitcher in water and boil for several hours without letting water or steam in.
Place a weight on top to keep it steady.
After boiling, strain the juice through a hair sieve and let it drain overnight.
Make the jelly
For every pint of juice, add 1 pound of lump sugar and boil for 20 minutes, skimming off the scum.
Pour the hot jelly into pots and cover with writing paper dipped in brandy.
Seal with brown paper and store in a dry place.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Red currant + sugartop 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
- Red currants
- Provide the natural pectin and acidity that help the juice set into a jelly.
- Lump sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps it set firm and keep well when cooked down.
The step that matters
Skimming off the scum during the final boil. Foam and impurities rise to the surface as the sugar dissolves and the juice boils. Removing them keeps the jelly clear and clean-tasting, and the boil must be sustained so the mixture reaches a set point.
“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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