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Dessert

Cranberry Jelly

A fruit jelly made from apples and cranberries sweetened with confectioner's sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Apple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,478 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cranberry Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the juice

  1. Place the apples and cranberries in a porcelain kettle and cover with cold water.

  2. Stew until soft, then strain through a jelly bag.

Make the jelly

  1. Add the juice to a pot and mix in the confectioner's sugar.

  2. Boil until the jelly falls from the skimmer, skimming off any froth that arises.

  3. Pour into molds and let it firm up before using.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together16,478 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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

Apples
Provide natural pectin and tartness that help the jelly set and taste bright.
Cranberries
Supply tart flavour, colour and the bulk of the juice for the jelly.
Confectioner's sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the tartness and helps the jelly firm as it cools.

The step that matters

Boil until the jelly falls from the skimmer. The jelly sets because pectin and sugar concentrate as water boils off. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while boiling too long can make it stiff and dull. Skimming froth keeps the jelly clear.

“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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