Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 the cherries
Fill a vessel half full with cleaned cherries.
Top up with rectified molasses brandy.
Let it infuse for 18 days.
Draw off the liquor as needed.
Refill the vessel with brandy.
Let it stand for a month before drawing off.
Cover the cherries with overproof brandy.
Let it stand for 7 weeks.
Press the cherries to extract any remaining liquor before discarding them.
Blend and sweeten
Mix the first infusion with more brandy until it reaches a desirable color.
If it lacks fruit flavor, add more of the first infusion.
For every 10 gallons, add 1.5 pounds of sugar and ¼ ounce of pounded cinnamon and cloves.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 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).
-
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 flavor and color that the brandy extracts over time.
- Rectified molasses brandy
- Acts as the solvent that draws flavor and color out of the cherries.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the brandy's strength and the fruit's tartness.
- Cinnamon and cloves
- Add warm aromatic spice notes to the finished liquor.
The step that matters
Covering the cherries with overproof brandy. Alcohol strength controls how well flavor and color are extracted from the fruit. Using weaker spirit or too little liquid can leave the cherries under-extracted, and the infusion may stay pale and thin.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, brandy, sugar, cinnamon):
- Clovethe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Allspicefits less well
- Gingerfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, brandy, 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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