Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Blackberry Cordial
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Pick and reject any reddish blackberries.
Squeeze the berries through a flannel bag to extract the juice.
Make the cordial
Combine 1 quart of juice with 1 pound of sugar in a stone jar.
Stir frequently for the first day and let it sit for three days.
On the fourth day, strain the mixture through a sieve.
Finish
Add 1 quart of brandy to the strained juice.
Bottle the cordial for use.
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.
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Blackberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour, juice and deep color of the cordial.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and draws water out of the fruit, helping the juice steep and keep.
- Brandy
- Adds alcohol that preserves the cordial and contributes warmth and aroma.
The step that matters
Stir frequently for the first day. Stirring keeps the sugar dissolving evenly into the juice, so it does not settle on the bottom of the jar. Dissolved sugar draws more juice out of the berries and makes the steeping more even.
“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
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Lemonade126 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.