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 ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the rind of the lemons very thinly, avoiding the white skin.
Squeeze the juice and strain it.
Whip the egg whites to a froth.
Crush the shells.
Make the jelly
Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan.
Whisk until it begins to boil.
Remove the whisk.
Let the jelly boil thoroughly.
Remove from heat.
Let it stand for about five minutes, until the scum cracks on the surface.
Strain the jelly through a fine kitchen cloth or jelly bag.
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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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sherry + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,237 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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
- Egg whites and shells
- Whipped whites and crushed shells collect impurities and cloud particles, clarifying the jelly as it heats.
- French gelatine
- Forms a network that sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the jelly body and a clear, glossy texture.
- Sherry or port
- Provides the wine flavour and alcohol that defines the jelly's character.
- Lemons
- Juice adds acidity to balance the sweetness, and the rind adds aromatic citrus flavour.
The step that matters
Letting the scum form and straining. Egg white proteins coagulate as the jelly heats and trap cloudy particles in a scum. Letting it stand until the scum cracks, then straining gently through a fine cloth, keeps the jelly clear rather than murky.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, sugar, egg, clove, cinnamon):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, sugar, egg, clove, 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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