Why it works: Sugar and cherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,598 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Cherry Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cherry pulp
Remove the stalks from the cherries.
Press the cherries through a fine sieve to remove the stones.
Place the cherry pulp in a preserving pan.
Boil for a short time, stirring well.
Press the paste through a sieve again.
Weigh the pulp.
Make the paste
Measure out the same weight of loaf sugar.
Clarify the sugar.
Boil the clarified sugar to the 'Feather' stage.
Mix the cherry paste thoroughly with the sugar using a spatula.
Boil again until ready for pouring onto tin plates or into molds.
Dry in the stove like other pastes.
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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Sugar + cherrytop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,598 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit pulp that gives the paste its flavour, colour and body.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the paste and, when boiled, helps it set firm as it cools and dries.
The step that matters
Boil the clarified sugar to the 'Feather' stage. Sugar must reach the right concentration to set the paste firmly. Undercooked sugar leaves a soft paste that will not hold its shape, while overcooked sugar becomes brittle and grainy.
“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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