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Noyeau Cordial

A sweet cordial made with proof spirits, sugar, almond extract, and apricot or peach juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Noyeau Cordial

Ingredients

Directions

Macerate

  1. In a large container, combine 1 gallon of proof spirits with 3 pounds of loaf sugar and 1 tablespoon of extract of almonds.

  2. Mix well and cover tightly; let it stand for 48 hours.

Strain and bottle

  1. After 48 hours, strain the mixture through thick flannel into a bottle.

  2. For improved flavor, add ½ pint of apricot or peach juice before bottling.

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. Almond + apricottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Spirit + apricottop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together38 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Sugar + apricottop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,630 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Spirit + almondtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together143 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Proof spirits
Alcohol base that dissolves and extracts flavor from the almond extract over the resting period.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and body, balancing the strong alcohol and almond flavor.
Extract of almonds
Provides the main almond aroma and flavor of the cordial.
Apricot or peach juice
Adds fruity flavor and a touch of acidity added just before bottling.

The step that matters

Covering tightly while the mixture stands for 48 hours. Alcohol slowly extracts flavor from the almond extract over time, so the resting period is what builds the taste. A tight cover keeps the alcohol from evaporating and the flavors from weakening.

“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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