Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Spiced Cherries
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the cherries
Put 1 pint vinegar on to boil with 4 pounds sugar, 1 ounce cinnamon bark, 1 ounce whole cloves.
When boiling, skim and add 9 pounds cherries.
Cook until the skin breaks.
Pack and seal
Take them out and place in jars.
Boil the syrup down until thick and pour over the cherries.
Cover and tie up or seal.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cherry | 1 cup (138g) | 87 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Cinnamon | 1 tsp ground (2.6g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Vinegar + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Vinegar + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,386 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,187 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Sugar and cinnamon 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
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps preserve the fruit.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, as it reduces, thickens the syrup that coats the cherries.
- Cherries
- Supply the fruit and its juice, which mingles with the syrup as the cherries cook.
- Cinnamon bark
- Contributes warm aroma to the syrup as it steeps during boiling.
- Cloves
- Add a pungent, aromatic spice note that infuses the boiling syrup.
The step that matters
Cook the cherries until the skin breaks. Cherries cooked too briefly stay firm and fail to absorb syrup, while overcooking makes them split and turn mushy. Watching for the skin to just break keeps the fruit whole yet tender enough to take up the spiced syrup.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (vinegar, sugar, cinnamon):
- Allspicefits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Cardamomfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against vinegar, sugar, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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