Why it works: Brandy and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the jelly
Peel the lemons very thinly and place in a pan with gelatine, water, and sugar.
Stir over the heat until the gelatine is dissolved.
Add the juice of the lemons, sherry, and whisked egg whites, then stir well into the jelly.
Allow to boil for 5 to 10 minutes.
Clarify and set
Pass through a jelly bag rinsed in boiling water two or three times until clear.
Add the brandy, and when cool, pour into a mould rinsed with cold water.
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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Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,209 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sherry + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Lemon and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, sliceable jelly as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Coagulate when heated and trap impurities, helping the jelly come out clear.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the jelly.
- Lemons
- Add acidity and fragrance from the peel and juice.
- Sherry
- Adds wine flavour and depth to the jelly.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and warmth, added late so its scent is preserved.
The step that matters
Straining until clear. The jelly must pass through the bag repeatedly, because the egg white and impurities only come out when strained fully. Stopping early leaves the jelly cloudy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, sherry, sugar, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Apricotfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, sherry, sugar, egg. 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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