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 ↓
To Make Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Weigh the strawberries after removing the stalks.
Boil the strawberries in a brass preserving pan for 30 minutes, stirring gently with a long wooden spoon.
If using, add 1 pound of red currant juice for every 4 pounds of strawberries.
Make the jam
Mix the sugar with the boiled strawberries and currant juice off the heat.
Boil the mixture rapidly for about 20 minutes, or until a skin forms when cooled.
Stir gently but quickly while cooking, removing any scum that forms.
Jar
Pour into clean, dry jars and cover with white paper.
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
- Strawberries
- Provide the main fruit, flavour and pectin-bearing body of the jam.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and set as it boils.
- Red currant juice
- Adds extra acidity and pectin to help the jam set.
The step that matters
Boil rapidly until the jam sets. Sugar and fruit acids only gel properly once the mixture reaches the right concentration, so under-boiling leaves jam runny while over-boiling can darken and dull the flavour. Testing for a skin when cooled shows whether it is ready.
“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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