Why it works: Raisin and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,242 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
To Make Elder Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Boil the water and let it cool.
Ferment
Add the raisins, sugar, elder juice, ginger, and sloes to the cooled water.
Allow the mixture to ferment.
Age and bottle
After fermentation, transfer to a cask and store in a dry place for three months.
Bottle the wine after three months.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Raisin + gingertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,242 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Raisins
- Provide sugars and body that feed fermentation and give the wine its fruity character.
- Sugar
- Supplies fermentable sugar that yeast converts into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Elder juice
- Adds the main fruit flavour and acidity to the wine.
- Sloes
- Contribute tartness, tannin and colour to the finished wine.
The step that matters
Allow the mixture to ferment. Fermentation depends on yeast activity in a sugary, warm liquid. If the mixture is too cold or the sugar too concentrated, it may ferment slowly or stall, leaving the wine sweet and unstable.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (raisin, sugar):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Clovefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against raisin, sugar. 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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