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 ↓
Raspberry and Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the juice
Combine raspberries and currant juice in a pot and boil slowly until raspberries break down.
Strain the mixture through a sieve to remove solids.
Make the jelly
Return the juice to the pot and add ¾ pound of sugar for each pint of juice.
Boil gently for 30 minutes, skimming as needed, until the jelly sets.
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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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
- Raspberries
- Provide the fruit flavour and pectin-bearing pulp that gives the jelly its body.
- Currant juice
- Adds tartness and natural pectin, helping the jelly set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and, with boiling, helps it reach a firm, spreadable set.
The step that matters
Boiling until the jelly sets. Jelly sets when enough pectin, acid and sugar are concentrated by boiling. Undercooking leaves it runny, while overcooking can make it dull and tough, so the set should be checked rather than judged by time alone.
“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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