Why it works: Grape and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,490 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grape Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the grapes
Pick the grapes from the stems, wash, and drain them.
Mash the grapes with a spoon.
Put the mashed grapes in a preserving kettle and cover with a large plate.
Boil for 10 minutes.
Extract the juice
Pour the mixture into a jelly bag and squeeze out the juice.
Make and jar the jelly
Combine 1 pint of juice with 1 pound of sugar in the kettle.
Boil for 15 minutes, skimming well.
Fill glasses with the warm jelly and seal with brandy paper.
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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Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grapes
- Provide the fruit juice that, with sugar, forms the jelly's body and flavor.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps the jelly set when boiled with it.
The step that matters
Boil for 15 minutes, skimming well. Boiling the juice with sugar concentrates it so the pectin and acid can gel as it cools. Skimming removes foam, which keeps the jelly clear and prevents cloudiness.
“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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