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Dessert

Strawberry Sweetmeats

Preserved strawberries in a sweet syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Strawberry Sweetmeats

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. In a bright tin preserving pan, combine the sugar and boiling water.

  2. Heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot.

Cook the strawberries

  1. Add the strawberries carefully to avoid breaking them.

  2. Boil gently for 10 minutes, or longer if the fruit is not clear.

  3. Transfer the strawberries to cans, keeping them hot.

Thicken and pack

  1. Boil the syrup down until very thick and rich.

  2. Drain off the thin syrup.

  3. Fill the cans with the thick syrup.

  4. Screw down the tops of the cans.

  5. If there's excess syrup, flavor it with vinegar. Boil briefly.

  6. Bottle and cork.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Forms the thick syrup that preserves the strawberries and gives them their sweetness.
Strawberries
Provide the fruit that is cooked and packed in the syrup as the main component.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup down until very thick and rich. Sugar concentration must be high enough to preserve the fruit and keep it from spoiling. Syrup that is too thin leaves the fruit vulnerable, so reducing it fully matters.

“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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