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 ↓
Currant Fastb
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Stalk and heat the red currants until they yield juice.
Pour off three parts of the juice for later use.
Press the remaining pulp through a fine sieve.
Make the jam
Boil the mixture briskly, stirring constantly, until it forms a dry paste.
For each pound of paste, add 7 ounces of pounded sugar.
Continue boiling for 25 to 30 minutes, ensuring it does not burn.
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 pulp, natural pectin and tartness that give the jam its body and flavor.
- Pounded sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it boils down, helps thicken it and preserve it.
The step that matters
Continue boiling without letting it burn. Sugar-rich fruit mixtures scorch easily on the base of the pan as water evaporates and the mixture thickens. Stirring and keeping the heat controlled prevents burnt flavor and sticking while the jam sets.
“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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