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 juice
Gather the currants on a dry day and pick them clean.
Pound the currants in a mortar and strain through a fine cloth or flannel bag.
Make the jelly
For every pint of juice, use 1 pound of sugar, broken into small pieces.
Boil the sugar with the juice to clarify and achieve a high candy stage.
Add the juice and boil for six minutes.
For better color, add 1 cup of white currants for every 4 cups of red.
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 juice and the tart flavor and natural pectin that set the jelly.
- Fine granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the juice thicken and set as it boils.
The step that matters
Boil the sugar with the juice. Sugar must dissolve fully in the juice before a long boil, or the jelly can crystallize. Boiling to the right concentration is what lets the mixture gel as it cools.
“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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