Why it works: Brandy and sugar 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 ↓
Peach LA Cure
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Take large, perfect clingstones; peel, or, which is better, remove the skin by dropping a few at a time in scalding ashes and water for a few minutes; wash off immediately in cold water, and place in clear water to preserve their color. Weigh the peaches.
Cook and preserve
Allow three fourths of a pound of white sugar to a pound of fruit; make a syrup of the sugar, and boil the peaches until a straw will pierce them easily, then lay them in the brandy.
Boil down the syrup pretty thick, place the peaches in a glass jar.
To three pints of syrup add one pint of brandy, or more if you want it stronger; pour over the peaches, and cover closely.
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. See the original page.
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 + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy and sugar 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
- Peaches (in the method)
- Provide the fruit body and flavor, and hold their shape when simmered until tender.
- White sugar
- Makes the syrup that sweetens the fruit and helps preserve it by drawing out water.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and strength to the syrup, helping the preserves keep.
The step that matters
Boiling the peaches until a straw pierces them. Boiling in sugar syrup softens the fruit while keeping it whole. Too little cooking leaves it firm and underdeveloped, while too much breaks it down into mush and thins the syrup's body.
“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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