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
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the cherries
Combine sugar and vinegar in a pot.
Add cherries and stir well.
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
Jar and seal
Pour into sterilized jars and seal.
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.
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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
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the vinegar.
- Cherries
- Provide the fruit, flavour and bulk of the preserve.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that sharpens flavour and helps preserve the cherries.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes. Simmering long enough softens the fruit and lets the sugar and vinegar blend into a syrup. Stopping early leaves the cherries underprocessed and less shelf-stable, so the simmer time matters.
“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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