Why it works: Clove and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Cherry Brandy
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse
Fill a vessel halfway with cherries.
Add brandy until the vessel is nearly full.
Let it infuse for 16-18 days.
Draw off the liquor as needed.
Refill and finish
Refill the vessel and let it stand for about a month.
Draw off the liquor again as needed.
For a third infusion, cover the cherries with over-proof brandy and let it infuse for 6-7 weeks.
After drawing off, add water equal to the amount of over-proof brandy used.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,928 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,483 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Cherries
- Provide the main fruit flavour and aroma that the brandy extracts over repeated infusions.
- Brandy
- Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour and colour from the cherries and preserves the liquor.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and rounds out the sharpness of the spirit.
- Cloves
- Contribute warm, pungent spice aroma to the infused liquor.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm, sweet spice aroma that complements the cherry flavour.
The step that matters
Drawing off the liquor at the right time. Leaving the cherries in the spirit too long can pull in bitter, astringent compounds from the stones and skins, while drawing off too early leaves flavour unextracted. Timing each infusion keeps the liquor balanced.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, molasses, sugar, cinnamon):
- Clovethe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Allspicefits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, molasses, sugar, cinnamon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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