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Cherries in Brandy

A preserved cherry beverage made by steeping cherries in brandy and syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and strawberry work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 121 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Cherries in Brandy

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Squeeze and mix strawberry juice and mulberries, then strain through a fine sieve.

  2. Combine the juice with brandy and sugar, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Pack and store

  1. Cut off half the stalks from the cherries and arrange them in wide-mouthed bottles.

  2. Pour the brandy and syrup mixture over the cherries, ensuring they are fully covered.

  3. Cork the bottles and store them in a cool, dry place.

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.

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. Brandy + strawberrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together121 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Strawberry + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,060 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Fine ripe cherries
Provide the fruit that is preserved and flavoured by the brandy syrup.
Brandy
Acts as the preservative and carries the flavour of the fruit through the storage period.
Sugar
Sweetens the liquid and helps preserve the fruit by binding water.
Strawberry juice
Adds fruity acidity and flavour to the syrup base.
Mulberries
Add deep fruity colour and flavour to the syrup.

The step that matters

Fully covering the cherries with the liquid. Fruit left exposed to air can oxidise, mould or ferment. Keeping every cherry submerged in the brandy and syrup mixture protects it during storage.

Swap the strawberry

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Strawberrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, sugar. 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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