Why it works: Grape and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 23% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,490 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Grape Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pulp
Rub grapes through a sieve to obtain pulp.
Combine 1 pound of pulp with 1 pound of sugar and stir well.
Boil the mixture slowly for 20 minutes.
Alternative methods
Alternatively, cover grapes with water and boil for 20 minutes.
Add 1 pound of sugar to the reduced juice and boil the syrup for 10-15 minutes.
For another method, cover grapes with water, boil, and drain through a jelly bag.
To 1 pint of the prepared juice, add 1 pint of sugar and boil for 20 minutes.
Finish
Just before the jelly is done, add 1 teaspoon of gum arabic.
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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Grape + sugartop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,490 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grapes
- Provide the pulp and juice that set into the jelly's flavour and body.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it set by binding water and firming the gel.
- Gum arabic
- Acts as a stabilizer that helps the jelly hold its set and resist weeping.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture slowly for 20 minutes. Sugar and fruit pectin set into a gel only when enough water evaporates and the mixture reaches the right concentration. Under-boiling leaves a runny jelly, while over-boiling can darken and toughen it.
“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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