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 ↓
Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Place the currants in a stone jar.
Put the jar in a kettle of hot water and let the currants boil.
Strain the mixture through a flannel bag.
Sweeten and strain
For every pint of juice, add 1 pound of white sugar that has been heated in the oven.
When the juice is boiling hot, add the hot sugar and stir until melted.
Strain again through a jelly bag into bowls or tumblers.
Stand and store
Let it stand in the sun for three to four days.
Cover each bowl tightly; it will keep for years.
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.
-
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 the juice and natural pectin that lets the jelly set.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps preserve it while it sets into a firm jelly.
The step that matters
Adding the hot sugar to boiling juice. The sugar must be hot and fully dissolved into the boiling juice. Undissolved sugar can form grainy crystals, and the juice must stay hot enough for the sugar and pectin to work together so the jelly sets properly.
“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.
More currant jelly recipes
You might also like
Currant Ice Cream32 recipes
Currant Sherbet9 recipes
Currant and Raspberry Ice7 recipes
White Cake431 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.