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
Make the juice
Place the currants in a saucepan with a little water.
Simmer for about 1 hour until all the juice is extracted.
Strain through a jelly bag or fine cloth into a preserving pan.
Cook the jelly
Add 1 lb (2 cups) of sugar for each pint of juice and boil slowly for about 30 minutes.
Skim off any foam that forms.
To test if the jelly is set, place a small amount on a cold plate.
Pour into small dry jars, seal, and store in a cool, 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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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 juice that carries the flavour and natural pectin for setting.
- Preserving sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set and keep well when boiled with the juice.
The step that matters
Testing for set. Currant juice must reach the right concentration to gel. Boiling too briefly leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it stiff, so a cold-plate test shows when it is ready.
“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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