Why it works: Brandy and spirit work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 209 recipes. Both carry ethyl benzoate, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Imitation Champagne
Ingredients
Directions
Blend and fine
Combine the white wine, heavy syrup, brandy, high-proof spirits, and Marseilles wine in a cask.
Dissolve the gelatine in lukewarm water the evening before use.
Beat the gelatine until frothy, then add the egg whites and mustard to the gelatine and beat the mixture again.
Pour the mixture into the wine and agitate the wine well.
Let the mixture stand for ten days.
Transfer the mixture to clean casks.
Carbonate and age
Charge the wine using a soda-water apparatus until the gauge shows 80 degrees.
Transfer the wine into strong casks similar to beer barrels and seal the casks.
Let the casks sit for 25 days.
Draw, filter and finish
Draw the wine into open tanks and agitate the wine to release gas.
Filter the wine through a felt filter.
Fine the wine again with 6 beaten egg whites and about ½ cup of the wine.
Let the wine stand for eight days.
Transfer the wine to a clean cask for another ten days.
Charge the wine again until the gauge indicates 60 to 65 degrees.
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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Brandy + spirittop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together209 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (sweet).
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Wine + spirittop 9% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together701 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
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White wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together620 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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White wine + winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- White wine
- Forms the base of the drink and supplies most of its flavour and alcohol.
- Heavy white syrup
- Adds sweetness and body to balance the wine's acidity.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and extra spirit character to the blend.
- French gelatine
- Helps clarify the wine and gives it a smoother mouthfeel.
- Egg whites
- Bind fining material that carries haze particles out of the wine during clarification.
The step that matters
Charging the wine to the gauge pressure. Carbonation depends on dissolved carbon dioxide held under pressure. Too little pressure leaves the wine flat, while overcharging strains the casks and can cause gushing when opened.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (white wine, wine, syrup, brandy, spirit, egg):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against white wine, wine, syrup, brandy, spirit, egg. 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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