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Brandy Peaches

Preserved ripe white plum peaches in sugar and brandy, stored in a sealed jar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Brandy Peaches

Why it works: Plum and peach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 163 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Brandy Peaches

Ingredients

Directions

Layer the fruit

  1. Peel the peaches and place a layer in a stone jar.

  2. Add a layer of sugar.

  3. Repeat layering sugar until the jar is full.

  4. Place a saucer on top to weigh them down.

Seal and store

  1. Seal the jar tightly and ensure air is excluded.

  2. Store the jar for several months.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Plum + peachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Plum + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together446 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Peach + clovetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Plum + brandytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together168 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Peach + brandytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together339 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

Ripe white plum peaches
Supply the fruit, flesh and main flavor of the preserve.
Sugar
Draws moisture out of the fruit and helps preserve it against spoilage.
Cloves
Add a warm, spiced aroma to the preserve.
Brandy
Adds its own flavor and alcohol that helps keep the preserve from spoiling.

The step that matters

Seal the jar tightly and exclude air. Air contact lets mold and yeast grow on the surface over months of storage. A tight seal and a weighted saucer keep the fruit submerged in its syrup, which limits spoilage.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (plum, peach, sugar, brandy):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Clovethe original
  3. Gingerfits about as well
  4. Nutmegfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against plum, peach, sugar, brandy. 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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