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Cherries in Brandy

Cherries soaked in brandy, then finished with a sugared brandy syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Cherries in Brandy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cherries

  1. Cut half of the stems off the cherries.

  2. Soak the cherries in cold water and drain them on a sieve.

Steep in brandy

  1. Place the cherries in glasses and pour in the Brandy.

  2. Add the bruised cinnamon and cover the bottles air-tight.

  3. Let them sit for 5 to 6 weeks.

Make the syrup and finish

  1. Afterward, drain the Brandy and mix it with the powdered sugar until melted.

  2. Strain the mixture through a flannel strainer until bright and clear.

  3. Pour the mixture over the cherries, ensuring the spirit covers the fruit.

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 + sugartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Brandy + cinnamontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,199 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Cinnamon and sugar 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

Morello cherries
Provide the main fruit flavour and tart character that the brandy takes on.
Brandy
Acts as the preserving liquid and extracts flavour from the cherries and cinnamon.
Powdered sugar
Dissolves into the drained brandy to add sweetness and body to the finished liquid.
Cinnamon
Adds warm aromatic spice to the brandy during steeping.

The step that matters

Covering the cherries with spirit. Fruit exposed above the liquid can spoil and discolour during the long steep, so the brandy must fully cover the cherries.

“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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