Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Blackberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Crush the blackberries in a large bowl.
Make the jelly
In a saucepan, combine the crushed blackberries and sugar.
Cook over gentle heat until the mixture thickens.
Stir in the brandy while still over the heat.
Pot and cool
Pour the jelly into pots and let it cool.
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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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Blackberries
- Provide the fruit flavor and pectin-rich body that lets the jelly set as it thickens.
- Best loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and helps it thicken and set as the mixture cooks down.
- Best brandy
- Adds aroma and a warm flavor, stirred in at the end while the jelly is still hot.
The step that matters
Cook over gentle heat until the mixture thickens. Gentle heat lets the fruit and sugar concentrate and set without scorching or burning the sugar. Overheating can cause the sugar to caramelize and give a bitter taste.
“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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