Why it works: Sugar and whisky are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,008 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Dried Cherries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Stew the cherries with a little sugar for a short time.
Dry
Spread the cherries on dishes and set them in the sun.
As they dry, pour the syrup over them a little at a time for 3 to 4 days.
Pack and store
When dry, pack them in boxes or jars, layering cherries with sugar and sprinkling a little whisky between layers.
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 + whiskytop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,008 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
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit that dries into chewy, concentrated pieces.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and helps draw out moisture while it dries and preserves it.
- Whisky
- Adds aroma and flavour between the layers of fruit.
The step that matters
Pour the syrup a little at a time. Adding syrup in small amounts as the cherries dry lets the sugar penetrate gradually. Pouring too much at once can make the fruit soggy and slow drying, which risks spoilage.
“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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