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 ↓
Clarify Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the fruit
Combine the fruit in a preserving pan and heat over medium heat until it boils.
Add the sugar and continue boiling for 30 minutes.
Test and finish
Test for jelly by dropping a bit on a cold plate; if it jellies, strain off the jelly.
For jam, ensure enough syrup remains with the fruit.
If using raspberries, add ½ pint to 2 quarts of currants for flavor, if desired.
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
- Currants
- Supply natural pectin and acid, which help the syrup set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps it thicken and set as it boils down.
The step that matters
Test for jelly on a cold plate. Sugar, pectin and acid must reach the gel point to set. Too little boiling leaves the syrup runny, while too much makes it stiff. A cold plate shows how it will set as it cools.
“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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