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
Prepare
Wash the currants.
Remove any leaves or debris.
Weigh the currants.
Cook the currants
Place ½ cup of water in a preserving kettle.
Add a bowl or two of currants.
Mash and press until the juice covers the bottom of the kettle.
Add the remaining currants.
Bring to a boil, stirring and pressing occasionally for 20 minutes.
Drip the juice
Pour the mixture into a scalded three-cornered bag.
Let it drip overnight without squeezing.
Make the jelly
In the morning, pour the juice back into the kettle.
Bring it to a boil for 3-4 minutes.
Add ½ pound of sugar for every pound of fruit used. Stir until dissolved.
Do not boil after adding sugar.
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
- Provides the juice, along with natural pectin and acid that help the jelly set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the juice and helps the pectin set into a firm gel.
The step that matters
Do not boil after adding sugar. Boiling after the sugar is dissolved can overcook the juice, weakening the pectin's gelling ability and leading to a runny or overly stiff jelly with a dull, caramelised flavour.
“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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