Why it works: Raisin and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,768 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raisin Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Place the raisins in the bung hole of a clean cask.
Pour in 1 gallon of pure spring water.
Allow the cask to stand in a cool cellar.
Ferment and age
When fermentation begins to subside, add 1 bottle of brandy and loosely put in the bung.
Once fermentation has completely stopped, add a second bottle of brandy and seal the cask tightly.
After one year, bottle the wine directly from the cask.
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.
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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raisins
- Provide the sugar and fruit flavour that ferment into the wine.
- Brandy
- Added after fermentation to stop or calm it and fortify the wine.
The step that matters
Adding the second bottle of brandy. Brandy should go in only after fermentation has completely stopped. Adding it while yeast is still active can interrupt fermentation unpredictably and leave residual sweetness, so the timing matters.
“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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