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 ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Soak the gelatine in cold water for about 10 minutes.
Combine all prepared ingredients in a saucepan over low heat.
Make the jelly
Whisk until it begins to boil, then allow to boil for 10 minutes.
Simmer for another 10 minutes without stirring.
Strain through a clean, scalded cloth until clear.
Return through the cloth until clear, using a basin rinsed with hot water underneath.
Set and serve
Once clear, pour into a mold rinsed with cold water and let it stand until firm.
For best results, set the jelly in ice.
Turn out and serve.
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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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sherry + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,237 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Sherry, madeira, or marsala
- Adds wine flavour and aroma to the jelly.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the sugar and wine.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the jelly and balances the acidity of the lemon and wine.
- Whites of 2 eggs, whisked
- Bind to impurities and rise to the top, so straining through the cloth leaves the jelly clear.
The step that matters
Straining until clear. Gelatine jelly only looks clear if the liquid is not stirred or agitated while settling. Straining through a clean, scalded cloth removes particles, and rinsing the basin keeps the liquid from cooling and clouding during the second pass.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sherry, sugar, clove, cinnamon, egg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sherry, sugar, clove, cinnamon, egg. 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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