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 ↓
Red Currant Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Pick over the currants and place them in a pot with a small amount of water.
Boil for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring well.
Mash the currants once thoroughly cooked and pour them into a jelly bag.
Set the jelly bag near the fire to keep warm while the juice drains.
Make the jelly
Measure the juice and for each pint, add one pound of sugar.
Boil the mixture for a few minutes until it reaches a jelly consistency.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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
- Provide the fruit pectin and acid that let the juice set into a jelly.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set firm when boiled with the juice.
The step that matters
Boiling the juice with sugar until it sets. Boiling concentrates the juice and sugar, and pectin needs enough sugar and acid to form a gel. Under-boiling leaves a runny jelly, while over-boiling can make it stiff or caramelised.
“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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