Why it works: Currant and sugar 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 ↓
Currant Jelly, Bed or Black
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Strip the currants from their stems.
In a stone jar, stew the currants with water over a hot hearth until the liquid is extracted.
Measure the liquid; for every pint, weigh out 1 pound of loaf sugar.
Make the jelly
Add the sugar in large lumps to the liquid in a stone or china vessel until nearly dissolved.
Transfer the mixture to a preserving pan and simmer, skimming as necessary.
To test for doneness, place a small amount on a plate; if it jellies, pour into small jars or glasses.
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.
-
Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar 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
- Currants
- Provide the fruit flavour and the natural pectin that lets the juice set into jelly.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the juice and, with the pectin and acid, helps the liquid set into a firm gel.
The step that matters
Testing for doneness on a plate. Jelly sets only when enough sugar, pectin and acid are concentrated by boiling. Judging too early leaves a runny jelly, while cooking too long can make it stiff and dull. A cold plate test shows whether it will gel.
“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.
More currant jelly recipes
You might also like
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Currant Sherbet9 recipes
Currant and Raspberry Ice7 recipes
White Cake431 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.