Why it works: Sugar and whisky are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,008 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Cherry Bounce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cherries
In a wooden bowl, mash together the morello and black-heart cherries with a pestle, crushing the stones.
Mix in the loaf sugar with the mashed cherries.
Transfer the mixture to a demijohn or large stone jar.
Steep and mature
Pour the whisky over the cherry mixture.
Seal the vessel tightly and let it stand for three months, shaking it daily during the first month.
After three months, the cherry bounce is ready to use.
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.
-
Sugar + whiskytop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,008 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Morello cherries
- Provide tart acidity and bold cherry flavour that balances the sweetness.
- Black-heart cherries
- Add juice, body and sweet cherry flavour to the infusion.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the liqueur and helps draw juice out of the cherries.
- Whisky
- Acts as the solvent that extracts flavour and preserves the fruit over months.
The step that matters
Sealing and shaking during the first month. Alcohol extracts flavour slowly from fruit, and sugar draws out juice. Keeping the vessel tightly sealed prevents evaporation and spoilage, while daily shaking keeps the sugar dissolving and the fruit in contact with the spirit.
“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.
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.