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Blackberry Cordial

A sweet blackberry cordial made with blackberries, sugar, water, cloves, allspice, and rum.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Blackberry Cordial

Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Blackberry Cordial

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the juice

  1. Combine blackberries, cold water, and sugar in a stone jar.

  2. Cover and let sit overnight.

  3. In the morning, boil the mixture gently for 20 minutes.

  4. Once cooled, strain the juice through a flannel bag.

Flavour and bottle

  1. Add essence of cloves, allspice, and Jamaica rum to the strained juice.

  2. Bottle the cordial when cool and seal tightly.

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.

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.

  1. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

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

  3. Allspice + rumtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).

  4. Clove + rumtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together270 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,938 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Blackberries
Provide the fruit juice that forms the base of the cordial.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and body and helps preserve the finished cordial.
Jamaica rum
Adds alcohol that helps preserve the cordial and contributes warmth of flavour.
Essence of cloves
Contributes a concentrated warm, spicy aroma to the cordial.
Whole allspice
Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour that complements the fruit.

The step that matters

Straining the juice after boiling. Straining through a flannel bag once cooled separates the juice from fruit solids and seeds, giving a clear cordial. Letting the mixture cool first keeps the spirit and flavourings from being driven off when they are added later.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, allspice, rum):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Gingerfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, allspice, rum. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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