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Brandied Quinces

Brandied quinces are quince halves preserved in a sweet syrup and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Brandied Quinces

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the quinces

  1. Peel and quarter the quinces, removing the cores.

  2. Soak the quinces in cold water until all are prepared.

  3. Boil the quinces until tender and easily pierced.

  4. Remove the quinces with a perforated skimmer and weigh them.

Make the syrup

  1. Combine ¾ pound of sugar with a little over half the quince water and boil.

  2. Add cinnamon sticks and cloves, then boil until a thick syrup forms.

Pack and seal

  1. Pack the quinces in jars, pour the syrup over them, and add 1 pint of brandy.

  2. Seal the jars immediately.

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.

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Quince + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together164 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Quince + cinnamontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together199 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Quince + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together91 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Quinces
Provide the fruit body and firm texture, and their natural pectin helps the syrup thicken.
Sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, as the syrup reduces, helps preserve it.
Brandy
Adds aroma and alcohol that helps preserve the fruit in the jars.
Cinnamon sticks
Infuse the syrup with warm, spicy aroma.
Cloves
Add a strong, warm aroma to the syrup.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup until it is thick. As water evaporates, the sugar concentration rises, so the syrup thickens and preserves the fruit. Stopping too early leaves a thin syrup that may not keep well, while boiling too long can make it crystallise or become overly sticky.

Swap the quince

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, clove, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits about as well
  3. Quincethe original
  4. Figfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, clove, brandy. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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