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Dessert

Sherry-Wine Jelly

A clear jelly made with sherry wine, sugar, and water, set in a mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sherry and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,141 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Sherry-Wine Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jelly

  1. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to prevent overflow.

  2. Stir while boiling for six minutes.

  3. Place a vessel under a jelly bag and pour the mixture into the bag.

  4. Add sherry wine and burned sugar to the mixture.

  5. Let it drain for two hours.

Set and serve

  1. Pour the jelly into a quart jelly mold and set aside in a cool place for two hours.

  2. Transfer to the ice box to harden for two more hours.

  3. Dip the mold in lukewarm water, then turn it onto a cold dessert dish.

  4. Wipe the dish clean and serve immediately.

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. Sherry + sugartop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,141 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Wine + sugartop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together9,581 recipes

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

  3. Sherry + winetop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together0 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Water
Forms the liquid base that becomes the clear jelly when set.
Sherry wine
Adds the main flavor of the jelly.
Burned sugar
Adds a deep, caramel-like color and aroma to the jelly.

The step that matters

Dipping the mold in lukewarm water. Gentle warming loosens the set jelly at its edges so it releases from the mold without tearing. Water that is too hot would begin to melt the outer layer and soften the jelly before it is turned out.

“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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