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 ↓
Blackberry Cordial
Ingredients
Directions
Extract the juice
Gather the ripest blackberries and mash them in a pan with a large wooden spoon.
Strain out all the juice.
Sweeten and boil
For each pint of juice, mix in ½ pound of sugar.
Boil the mixture, skimming off any foam.
Strain the mixture again.
Let it cool.
Add brandy and bottle
Once cool, add 2 cups of brandy for each pint of juice.
Bottle the cordial and it will be ready for 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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
What each ingredient does
- Blackberries
- Provide the main fruit flavour, colour and juice for the cordial.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness that balances the berries' tartness and helps preserve the liquid.
- Brandy
- Adds alcohol that helps preserve the cordial and carries its aroma.
The step that matters
Add the brandy only after the juice has cooled. Alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water, so brandy added to hot juice loses much of its alcohol and aroma. Cooling first keeps the spirit's strength and fragrance in the finished cordial.
“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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