Why it works: Wine and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Pour 1 pint of cold water over the gelatine and let it stand for 10 minutes.
Add 1 quart of boiling water and 1½ pounds of sugar; mix well.
If desired, add a stick of cinnamon.
When nearly cold, stir in 1 pint of wine and ⅓ cup of brandy.
Strain the mixture through a fine cloth into moulds.
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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Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Cinnamon + winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Cinnamon + brandytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,199 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and adds body to the set.
- Wine
- Provides the main flavour and liquid for the jelly.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and a warming, spirited note to the jelly.
The step that matters
Stir in the wine and brandy when nearly cold. Gelatine begins to set as it cools, so adding alcohol and wine when the mixture is nearly cold helps keep it evenly mixed. Alcohol also slightly weakens gelatine's setting strength, so the mixture should not be hot when they go in.
“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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