Why it works: Blackberry and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,033 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Blackberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Wash the berries well.
Cover the berries with water and boil for a few minutes.
Strain the mixture through a flannel bag.
Make the jelly
Add 1 pint of sugar to the 3 pints of juice.
Boil until the mixture drops short from the spoon.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Blackberry + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,033 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Blackberry juice
- Provides the fruit flavour and the pectin and acid that help the jelly set.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with boiling, helps the mixture thicken and set.
The step that matters
Boil until the mixture drops short from the spoon. Boiling concentrates the juice and raises the sugar content until the jelly reaches the setting point. Stopping too early leaves it runny, while boiling too long can 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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.