Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Canned Cherries
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar and vinegar in a pot.
Heat until sugar dissolves.
Pack and process
Pour the mixture over the cherries in a jar.
Seal the jar and process in a boiling water bath for preservation.
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.
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 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, which softens and takes on the flavour of the sweet, sharp syrup.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and helps keep the fruit stable in the jar.
The step that matters
Process in a boiling water bath. Heat processing is what makes the sealed jar safe to store at room temperature. Under-processing or a poor seal can let spoilage microbes survive and grow, so the jar should be fully covered and held at a full boil for the required time.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipes