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 Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Gather the currants on a dry day, ensuring they are free from dust.
Place the currants and powdered sugar in a preserving pan.
Cook
Stir gently over a brisk fire and bring to a boil.
Boil for exactly 8 minutes from the first full boil.
If the jam rises over the pan, lift it from the fire briefly.
For a sweeter jam, use equal weights of fruit and sugar and boil for 7 minutes.
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.
-
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 fruit flavour, natural pectin and acidity that help the jam set.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the jam thicken and keep as it cooks.
The step that matters
Boil for exactly 8 minutes from the first full boil. Timing the boil controls how much water evaporates and how far the pectin sets. Boiling too briefly leaves the jam runny, while boiling too long makes it stiff and can darken its 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.
You might also like
Red Currant Jelly65 recipes
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Currant Sherbet9 recipes
Currant and Raspberry Ice7 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.