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 ↓
Another Wat to Make Red Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Gather the currants with the stalks and rinse them in cold water.
Gently remove the currants and place them in a sieve for 30 minutes.
Transfer the currants to a preserving pan, adding 1 pint of raspberries and enough water to prevent burning.
Heat the mixture until hot but not boiling, shaking the pan to prevent sticking.
Extract the juice
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag.
Add sugar and boil
For every pint of juice, add 1 pound of loaf sugar.
Bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute, skimming off any scum after removing from heat.
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 natural pectin and acidity that help the juice set into a firm jelly.
- Raspberries
- Add extra fruit flavour and aroma to the jelly.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps the jelly set and keep its shape.
The step that matters
Boiling with the sugar. Sugar and fruit pectin need a brief rolling boil to set the jelly properly. Skimming off the scum after heating removes foam that would otherwise cloud the finished jelly.
“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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