Why it works: Cinnamon and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gelatine
Add the gelatine to 1 pint of cold water and let it stand for 2 hours.
Add 1 pint of boiling water to the gelatine mixture.
Add the flavourings
Break the cinnamon sticks into 3 tablespoons of water and bring to a boil.
Pour the cinnamon mixture into the gelatine.
Boil and strain
Add the lemon juice, sugar, and wine to the kettle.
Boil the mixture for several minutes, skim off any foam, and strain through a flannel bag.
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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Cinnamon + lemontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,157 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Cinnamon + winetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,170 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
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Lemon + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Cinnamon and sugar 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 jelly as it cools.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and body to the finished jelly.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and balances the sugar.
- Wine
- Gives the jelly its main flavour and aroma.
- Cinnamon
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice note.
The step that matters
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 2 hours. Gelatine granules must fully absorb cold water before heating so they dissolve evenly. Adding boiling water to unsoaked gelatine can leave lumps and weaken the set.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, sugar, wine):
- Vanillafits better
- Applefits better
- Raisinfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, sugar, wine. 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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