Why it works: Rum and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,908 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cherry Bounce
Ingredients
Directions
Place the wild cherries in a 3-gallon demijohn.
Add the rum, water, and loaf sugar.
Seal the demijohn and let it sit for several weeks to infuse the flavors.
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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Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,908 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
- Wild cherries
- Supply the main fruit flavor and color as they steep in the liquor.
- Rum
- Extracts flavor from the cherries and its alcohol helps preserve the infusion.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the tart, astringent flavor of the cherries.
The step that matters
Let it sit for the full infusion time. Flavors and color move slowly from the fruit into the alcohol and sugar over weeks. Opening or bottling early leaves the drink thin, pale and harsh, because the cherries have not released their flavor.
“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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