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Dessert

Blackberry Syrup

A sweet syrup made from blackberries, sugar, spices, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Blackberry Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Extract the juice

  1. Place ripe blackberries in a sieve over a large pan.

  2. Press out all the juice using a potato masher.

Make the syrup

  1. Measure the juice and add ½ pound of powdered sugar, 1 heaped teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 heaped teaspoon of cloves, and 1 powdered nutmeg, then mix the spices with the juice and sugar.

  2. Boil the mixture in a porcelain kettle, skimming well.

Finish and bottle

  1. Once cooled, stir in ½ pint of brandy.

  2. Bottle the syrup for use.

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.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cinnamon + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Ripe blackberries
Provide the juice that forms the body and fruity flavour of the syrup.
Powdered loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and thickens the juice into a syrup as it boils down.
Powdered cinnamon
Adds warm aroma and spice flavour.
Powdered cloves
Adds strong, warm aroma and a pungent spice note.
Fourth proof brandy
Adds alcohol, which helps preserve the syrup and contributes a warming flavour.

The step that matters

Stir in the brandy only after the syrup has cooled. Alcohol is volatile and heat drives it off, along with its aroma. Adding the brandy to hot syrup would weaken its flavour and preserving effect, so the syrup must cool first.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, brandy):

  1. Clovethe original
  2. Allspicefits about as well
  3. Cardamomfits less well
  4. Gingerfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, brandy. 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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