Why it works: Raisin and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,768 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raisin Wine Without Cyder
Ingredients
Directions
Ferment the raisins
Pour the spring water over the raisins and stir well daily for 14 days.
Squeeze the raisins in a horsehair bag using a press, and turn the liquor.
When the liquor stops hissing, seal it tightly.
Rack, brandy and bottle
After 6 months, rack it off into another cask or tub, clearing out the sediment without washing it.
Add the gallon of brandy, seal it tightly, and bottle it after another 6 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.
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 + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Malaga raisins
- Provide the sugar and flavour that the fermentation turns into wine.
- Brandy
- Adds alcohol, which helps preserve the wine and stops further fermentation.
The step that matters
Seal the cask when the liquor stops hissing. The hissing is carbon dioxide from fermentation. Sealing once it stops keeps air out, which prevents oxidation and spoilage, while sealing earlier can trap pressure that is still building.
“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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