Why it works: Brandy and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Ratafia De Genievre
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse juniper berries in brandy with sugar for 15 days.
Filter the infusion.
Bottle for use.
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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Brandy + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Brandy and sugar 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
- Juniper berries
- Supply the main aromatic flavour, which is extracted into the brandy during the infusion.
- Brandy
- Acts as the solvent that draws flavour from the berries and keeps the finished liquor stable.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and softens the sharp, bitter edge of the juniper and alcohol.
The step that matters
Infuse for the full 15 days. Alcohol extracts juniper's aromatic compounds slowly, so cutting the infusion short leaves the liquor weak and thin in flavour. Sugar dissolves into the spirit over the same period, helping the flavours blend.
“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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