Name: Cherry Brandy
Ingredients: 6 lb. morella cherries; 2 lb. bitter almonds; 3 lb. powdered loaf sugar; 3 bottles brandy

Why it works: Almond and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,969 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓

Cherry Brandy

Ingredients

6 lb. morella cherries
2 lb. bitter almonds
3 lb. powdered loaf sugar
3 bottles brandy

Directions

Prepare

Remove the stones from the cherries and place them in a stone jar.
Bruise the stones and add them to the jar along with the blanched almonds and sugar.

Steep

Cover the jar and let it sit for one month.

Strain and bottle

Strain the mixture through blotting paper and bottle it.

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.

Almond + brandytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,969 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together11,939 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Morella cherries: Provide the main fruit flavour and colour of the brandy.
Bitter almonds: Add a nutty, almond-like aroma that rounds out the cherry flavour.
Powdered loaf sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the alcohol and fruit acidity.
Brandy: Acts as the solvent that draws flavour out of the cherries and almonds over time.