Why it works: Sugar and brandy 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 ↓
Another Way to Make Cherry Brandy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cherries
Bake the morella and common cherries until soft.
Press out the juice.
Pound the stones in a marble mortar.
Make the brandy
Mix the juice, pounded stones, and sugar candy together.
Add the brandy to the mixture.
Transfer to a large glass bottle.
Shake frequently for 3 months.
After 3 months, strain through a jelly bag.
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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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy 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
- Morella cherries
- Provide the main cherry flavour, juice and colour for the brandy.
- Common cherries
- Add extra cherry juice and body to the base.
- Sugar candy
- Adds sweetness that balances the tartness and alcohol of the brandy.
- Brandy
- Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour and preserves the fruit.
The step that matters
Shake frequently for 3 months. Regular shaking keeps the fruit, stones and sugar spread through the spirit so they dissolve and extract flavour evenly over the long infusion.
“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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