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Ratafia

A liqueur made by steeping peach and apricot kernels in brandy, then sweetened with sugar candy dissolved in cold water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Peach and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 342 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Ratafia

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kernels

  1. Blanch the peach and apricot kernels, then bruise them.

Steep

  1. Place the kernels in a bottle and fill it nearly to the top with brandy.

  2. After one month, strain the mixture to remove the kernels.

Sweeten and bottle

  1. Dissolve the sugar candy in cold water and add it to the brandy.

  2. Filter the mixture through paper and bottle it for use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Peach + apricottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together342 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Apricot + brandytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together513 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Peach + brandytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together339 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Peach + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Apricot + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,630 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Peach and apricot kernels
Provide the characteristic almond-like aroma and flavour as they steep in the brandy.
Brandy
Extracts flavour from the kernels and acts as the base spirit of the liqueur.
White sugar candy
Adds sweetness to balance the bitterness of the steeped kernels.

The step that matters

Bruising the kernels. Bruising breaks the kernel tissue so the brandy can draw out its flavour during the month of steeping. Whole kernels would release far less aroma and flavour into the spirit.

Swap the peach

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apricot, brandy, sugar):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Peachthe original
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Plumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against apricot, brandy, 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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