Skip to main content
Dessert

Black-currant Jam

A jam made from currants and sugar, boiled until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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 ↓

Black-currant Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and stem the currants.

  2. Place the currants in a preserving pan and gradually add the sugar.

Cook the jam

  1. Boil the mixture until the jam thickens, testing by pouring a little onto a plate.

  2. Skim off any foam and stir well during boiling.

  3. Cook for about 1 hour or more after the jam starts boiling.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Blackcurrants (in the method)
Provide the fruit, pectin and tartness that give the jam its flavour and body.
Sugar
Sweetens the jam and, with boiling, helps it thicken and keep well.

The step that matters

Testing for set. Jam thickens as water evaporates and sugar and pectin reach a gel point. Undercooked jam stays runny, while overcooked jam can turn stiff or dark, so testing a cold spoonful on a plate shows when it is ready.

“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.

You might also like

Red Currant JellyRed Currant Jelly65 recipesCurrant Ice CreamCurrant Ice Cream32 recipesCurrant SherbetCurrant Sherbet9 recipesCurrant and Raspberry IceCurrant and Raspberry Ice7 recipes