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Elder Wine. No. 2

A fermented elderberry wine made with water, sugar, raisins, brandy, and cloves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Raisin and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,070 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Elder Wine. No. 2

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Steep the elderberries in water for 40 hours.

  2. Boil the mixture for 15 minutes, then strain the liquid from the fruit.

  3. Boil the strained liquid with the sugar until no more scum rises.

  4. Ferment in a tub with a small amount of yeast.

  5. After a few weeks, add raisins, brandy, and cloves.

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. Raisin + clovetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,070 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,768 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

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

  4. Brandy + clovetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,362 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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

Elderberries
Provide the main flavor and color of the wine.
Lisbon sugar
Feeds the yeast during fermentation and adds sweetness and alcohol.
Yeast (in the method)
Converts the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation.
Raisins
Add body and extra sugar to the wine after fermentation has begun.

The step that matters

Boil the strained liquid with the sugar until no more scum rises. Skimming off the scum removes proteins and debris that would otherwise cloud the wine or spoil its flavor. Stop boiling once the scum stops forming, since prolonged boiling can drive off aromatic compounds.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Clovethe original
  4. Gingerfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, raisin, brandy. 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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