Why it works: Sugar and red currant 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 ↓
Strawberry or Raspberry Preserve
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick the fruit and place it in a pot.
Add ¾ pound of sifted sugar for every pound of fruit.
If desired, add some red currant juice.
Cook and jar
Boil the mixture for 30 minutes.
Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.
Pour the preserve into jars.
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 + red curranttop 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
- Strawberries or raspberries
- Provide the fruit that forms the body and flavour of the preserve.
- Sifted sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and helps it thicken and keep as it cooks down.
- Red currant juice
- Adds extra tartness and fruit flavour, and natural pectin to help set.
The step that matters
Skim off the foam. Foam forms as impurities and air rise during boiling. Removing it keeps the preserve clear and free of off flavours.
“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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