Why it works: Molasses and brandy work together. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 721 recipes. The science ↓
Elderberry Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Combine molasses and elderberries in a pot.
Boil for 20 minutes, stirring constantly.
Allow to cool, then add 1 glass of brandy for each pint of syrup.
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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Molasses + brandytop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together721 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Provides sweetness and a deep, rich body to the syrup.
- Elderberries
- Supply the main flavour and colour of the syrup as they cook down.
- Brandy
- Added after cooling to act as a preservative and add aroma.
The step that matters
Boil for 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Boiling concentrates the mixture and thickens it into a syrup. Constant stirring keeps the sugars from scorching on the bottom of the pot, which would give a burnt taste.
“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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