Why it works: Sugar and currant 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 ↓
Raspberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Mix the raspberries and sugar in a bowl.
Mash the mixture and let it sit for a while.
Cook
Boil the mixture, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Variation
For a variation, add 1 pint of currant juice and an extra pound of sugar for every 5 pounds of berries.
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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Sugar + curranttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Sugar and currant 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
- Raspberries
- Provide the fruit flavor and most of the body of the jam.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, once cooked down, helps the jam thicken and keep its texture.
The step that matters
Stirring while the mixture boils. Sugar and fruit thicken as water evaporates, and the sugar-rich layer on the bottom of the pot can scorch quickly at high heat. Constant stirring spreads the heat and keeps the mixture from burning.
“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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