Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
To Can Cherries
Ingredients
Directions
Make the cherry mixture
Combine the pitted cherries and sugar in a porcelain kettle.
Cook for 5 minutes.
Prepare and fill the cans
Prepare the cans by drying and heating them in hot water.
Fill the cans with the cherry mixture.
Wet a piece of writing paper in brandy and place it over the top of the cans.
Sprinkle white sugar on top to prevent molding.
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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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy 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
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit that forms the main body and flavor of the preserve.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps preserve it by drawing out moisture.
- Brandy
- Dampened paper over the cans adds an alcohol layer that helps discourage surface mold.
- White sugar
- Sprinkled on top to form a protective layer against mold.
The step that matters
Preparing the cans. Cans must be thoroughly dried and heated before filling so that no residual water remains to dilute the syrup or encourage spoilage and mold growth.
“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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