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Raspberry Shrub

A sweetened raspberry vinegar syrup made by macerating berries, straining, and sweetening with sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Raspberry Shrub

Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Raspberry Shrub

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the juice

  1. Pour vinegar over raspberries and let stand overnight.

  2. Drain through double thickness of cheesecloth and measure the juice.

Cook and bottle

  1. Add 2 cups of sugar for each pint.

  2. Boil for 30 minutes.

  3. Pour into jars or bottles when cold.

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. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 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

Raspberries
Provide the main fruit flavor and color of the shrub.
Vinegar
Adds the sharp acidity that defines a shrub and steeps flavor out of the fruit.
Sugar
Sweetens the juice and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.

The step that matters

Add 2 cups of sugar for each pint. Sugar must be measured against the actual juice volume. It sweetens the drink and balances the vinegar's acidity, so an incorrect ratio leaves the shrub either harsh or cloying.

“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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