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 ↓
Blackberry Cordial
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the juice
Mash the blackberries and place them in a linen bag.
Squeeze out the juice into a bowl.
Make the cordial
In a large pot, combine the juice with the sugar.
Heat the mixture until the sugar melts.
Boil the mixture until it reaches a thin jelly consistency.
Once cooled, mix in the brandy thoroughly.
Bottle the cordial for use.
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.
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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
- Ripe blackberries
- Provide the main flavor and color, and the juice that forms the base of the cordial.
- Beaten loaf sugar
- Sweetens the juice and, when boiled, thickens it toward a syrupy jelly consistency.
- Brandy
- Adds alcohol that preserves the cordial and blends with the fruit flavor.
The step that matters
Boil to a thin jelly consistency. Boiling concentrates the sugar and fruit juice, so the cordial thickens as it cools. Stopping too early leaves it thin, while boiling too long makes it overly stiff and sticky.
“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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