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Blackberry Cordial

A sweet blackberry cordial made with blackberries, sugar, spices, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Blackberry Cordial

Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Blackberry Cordial

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the juice

  1. Press the blackberries in a Combination Press to extract the juice.

  2. In a porcelain kettle, combine the blackberry juice and sugar in equal weights.

Cook the cordial

  1. Add the cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg to the mixture.

  2. Bring to a boil over high heat and let it boil for one hour, skimming off any scum.

  3. Allow the mixture to cool, then stir in the brandy.

Bottle

  1. Strain through a fine sieve, then bottle and cork tightly.

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.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Blackberries
Supply the main fruit juice, flavour and colour of the cordial.
Sugar
Sweetens the juice and helps preserve the finished cordial.
Brandy
Adds alcohol that helps preserve the cordial and carries the spice aroma.
Cinnamon bark
Contributes warm, sweet spice aroma and flavour.
Whole cloves
Contributes strong, warm spice aroma and flavour.

The step that matters

Skimming during the boil. Scum rising during the hour-long boil can cloud the cordial and carry off-flavours. Removing it as it forms keeps the liquid clear and clean-tasting.

“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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