Why it works: Currant and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,270 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Ribbon Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chill currant jelly, lemon jelly, and plain blanc-mange until they begin to set.
Wet a mold with cold water.
Layer the jelly
Pour in about ¼ of the currant jelly into the mold.
Allow it to set slightly before adding the lemon jelly.
Repeat layering with the remaining jellies and blanc-mange.
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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Currant + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,270 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Currant jelly
- Provides a tart, fruity flavour and a deep colour for one of the ribbon layers.
- Lemon jelly
- Adds a bright, acidic flavour and a contrasting colour between the layers.
- Plain blanc-mange
- Provides a creamy, opaque layer that contrasts with the clear jellies.
The step that matters
Allow each layer to set slightly before adding the next. If the jelly is still liquid, the new layer will mix into the one below instead of forming a clean ribbon. Chilling until just setting gives each layer enough body to hold its place.
“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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