Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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
Prepare
Clean and pick cherries from the stalks, filling a vessel halfway with them.
Fill the vessel with rectified molasses brandy.
Infuse and draw off
Let the mixture infuse for 16 to 18 days.
Draw off the liquid as needed until all is removed.
Refill the vessel nearly to the top and let it stand for about a month.
Draw off the liquid again as needed.
For a third infusion, cover the cherries with overproof brandy and let it infuse for 6 to 7 weeks.
When drawing off the liquid, add water equal to the amount of overproof brandy used.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 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).
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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
- Supply the fruit flavour and colour that the spirit extracts over repeated infusions.
- Rectified molasses brandy
- Acts as the solvent that draws flavour and colour out of the cherries.
- Overproof brandy
- Provides a stronger solvent for the third infusion to extract remaining flavour from the cherries.
The step that matters
Adding water when drawing off the liquid. Water is added in proportion to the overproof brandy used, so the alcohol strength is adjusted. Adding too little or too much changes how much flavour and alcohol the final spirit keeps.
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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