Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Red Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Gather the currants on a dry day and pick them clean.
Put the currants in a preserving pan with 1 pint of raspberries and 1 pint of water.
Heat the mixture until hot but do not boil, shaking the pan to prevent sticking.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag.
Make the jelly
For every pint of juice, add 1 pound of pounded loaf sugar.
Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, removing any scum.
Pour into jars and let cool before sealing.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Red currants
- Provide the main tart fruit flavour and the natural pectin that lets the juice set into jelly.
- Fine loaf sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps the jelly set and keep its firm texture.
- Raspberries
- Add extra fruit flavour and aroma to the juice.
The step that matters
Boiling with the sugar. The juice must reach a full rolling boil after the sugar is added so the pectin and sugar can set. Too short a boil leaves the jelly runny, while skimming scum keeps it clear.
“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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