Why it works: Sugar and currant 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 ↓
Raspberry-Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the syrup
Dissolve the sugar in the currant juice.
Boil and skim the mixture until clean.
Make the jam
Mash the raspberries and mix them with the syrup.
Boil quickly over a clear fire for nearly an hour.
Check if the jam is done by placing a little on a plate; if juice drains, boil longer.
Pot and store
Once done, pour into pots and cover with brandy papers.
Tie down with another paper and store in a dry place.
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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Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant 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
- Lump sugar
- Provides sweetness and, with boiling, helps the jam thicken and keep.
- Currant juice
- Adds acidity and natural pectin that help the jam set.
- Raspberries
- Supply the main flavour, colour and fruit body of the jam.
The step that matters
Testing for doneness. Jam sets as its sugar and pectin concentrate during boiling. Stopping too early leaves runny jam that may spoil, while boiling too long can make it stiff and dull in flavour.
“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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