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 juice
Remove grapes from their stalks and place them in a pot over low heat.
Stir gently until all grapes burst and juice flows freely.
Strain the juice through a jelly cloth or bag.
Make the jelly
Measure the juice and for each pint, add 14 ounces of sugar.
Boil the juice for 20 minutes.
Stir in the sugar and boil for an additional 15 minutes, stirring constantly.
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 juice and natural pectin that gives the jelly its body and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set by binding water and firming the pectin network.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugar into the juice. Stirring constantly prevents sugar from scorching on the pot bottom, and the boil must be sustained so enough water evaporates for the jelly to reach a firm set.
“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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