Balancing Alcohol in Boozy Bakes

Alcohol is both a flavour and a flavour amplifier - when raw spirit hits the palate it dominates the volatile compounds of everything else, which is what Paul Hollywood meant when he called Janusz's wuzetka soak "overwhelming". The fix in any boozy bake is rarely to use less spirit - it is to cook the spirit into the syrup. Reducing fruit juice with the alcohol concentrates the fruit character while burning off the harshest top notes of the raw spirit; the warmth of the spirit carries through, but the cherry now reads as cherry rather than as alcohol burn. The same principle applies whenever you flambé brandy into cream or reduce wine into stock - cooked-down volatile compounds carry the warmth without the bite. As a rule of thumb, simmer the syrup with the spirit for two to three minutes after adding it, or reduce the fruit juice first and stir the spirit in off the heat for a brighter result. Pair this with a spoonful of matching fruit conserve, or a few macerated whole fruit, so the fruit has real body to anchor the alcohol against.