Why it works: Brandy and gelatin work together. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 62 recipes. The science ↓
Brandy Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the brandy and water in a saucepan.
Heat the mixture until scalding hot but not boiling.
Add the dissolved gelatin and stir until combined.
Strain the sauce and serve it with plum pudding.
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.
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Brandy + gelatintop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together62 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brandy
- Provides the main flavour and aroma of the sauce.
- Gelatin
- Thickens the liquid and gives the sauce body as it cools.
The step that matters
Heating until scalding but not boiling. Gelatin needs to be heated enough to dissolve and blend smoothly, but boiling can weaken its setting power and alcohol evaporates quickly, changing the flavour.
“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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