Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Preserves and Jellies
Ingredients
Directions
Pare the fruits with a silver knife and drop them into cold water to prevent discoloration.
Use fresh, not over-ripe, fruit for the best results.
In a porcelain or granite vessel, gently boil the fruit with granulated sugar.
If the preserves stick to the bottom, switch to a clean kettle immediately.
Add a handful of marbles to the kettle to reduce sticking.
To prevent mould, place a few drops of glycerine around the jar's edges before sealing, or cover with a circular piece of paper dipped in brandy.
Use fruit that is not quite ripe for making jelly.
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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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
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