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 ↓
Black Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Combine the black raspberries, sugar, and currant juice (or stemmed currants) in a large pot.
Heat the mixture slowly at first, then increase the heat and cook until it thickens.
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
- Black raspberries
- Provide the main fruit flavor and the bulk of the jam's body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates, helps it thicken and keep.
- Currant juice or stemmed currants
- Add acidity and natural pectin, which help the jam set.
The step that matters
Heating slowly at first, then raising the heat. Sugar and fruit can scorch on the hot bottom of the pot before the mixture has released enough liquid. A gentle start lets the fruit soften and the sugar dissolve, then higher heat drives off water so the jam thickens.
“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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