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 ↓
Currant Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick currants from the stems and wash thoroughly.
Cook the jam
Put currants into a preserving kettle and boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring often and removing any scum.
Add sugar in the proportion of ¾ pound sugar to 1 pound fruit.
Boil for an additional 30 minutes, stirring almost constantly.
Jar
Pour into small jars or glasses and seal or secure like jelly.
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
- Currants
- Provide the fruit, flavour, acidity and natural pectin that help the jam thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness, thickens the jam and helps preserve it by binding water.
The step that matters
Stirring almost constantly during the final boil. Once sugar is added, the mixture is thick and sticks and scorches easily on the bottom of the kettle. Constant stirring prevents burning and lets the jam cook evenly until it reaches a set consistency.
“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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