Why it works: Red currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,156 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Cherry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Pit the cherries and place them in a pot.
Add the red currant juice and fine sugar.
Boil the mixture briskly until it thickens.
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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Red currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,156 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit bulk and flavour that forms the body of the jam.
- Red currant juice
- Adds natural acidity and pectin-rich liquid to help the jam set.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and set as it boils.
The step that matters
Boiling until it thickens. Boiling briskly drives off water and concentrates the sugar and fruit pectin. Stopping too early leaves the jam runny, while boiling too long can scorch it or make it stiff.
“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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