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 ↓
Jellies and Jams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
In a porcelain kettle, combine the fruit with just enough water to prevent burning.
Stir often and heat until the fruit is thoroughly scalded.
Alternatively, place the fruit in a stone jar within a kettle of tepid water and boil until softened, stirring frequently.
Cut larger fruits into pieces, remove defective cores, and add water to just cover them.
Boil gently until tender, then drain for several hours or overnight.
Extract the juice
Strain the juice through a strong, coarse flannel or cotton bag wrung out of hot water, letting it drain and squeezing as it cools.
Make and store the jam
Use equal measures of juice and sugar.
Boil the juice rapidly for ten minutes from the first moment of boiling.
Pour the hot jelly into jars, cover with brandied tissue paper, and cool quickly in a dry, cool, dark place.
Check the jelly towards the end of summer for signs of fermentation and reboil if necessary.
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
- Fruit
- Provides the bulk, pectin, and flavour that set the jelly once cooked and strained.
- Refined or granulated sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps the cooked liquid thicken and set into a jelly.
- Water
- Softens the fruit and prevents it from scorching while it is first heated.
The step that matters
Boil the juice rapidly for ten minutes. Rapid boiling concentrates the juice and sugar so the mixture reaches the point where it sets. Boiling gently or too briefly leaves it runny and more prone to fermentation later.
“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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