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Dessert

Blackberry Sweetmeats

A sweet preserve made from blackberries and sugar, boiled and canned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Blackberry Sweetmeats

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the blackberries

  1. Place the blackberries in a porcelain kettle.

  2. Heat slowly on the back of the stove until enough juice is released to boil without burning.

  3. Boil for 10 to 15 minutes until the blackberries are tender.

Add the sugar

  1. Add the sugar and mix gently without boiling again.

  2. Keep the mixture very hot until the sugar is fully dissolved.

Fill and seal

  1. Heat a pitcher and fill the cans quickly, then screw down the covers immediately.

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

Blackberries
Provide the fruit, juice and flavour that form the body of the preserve.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, once dissolved, helps the mixture set and keep.

The step that matters

Keep the mixture very hot until the sugar is fully dissolved. Sugar that has not dissolved can stay grainy or crystallise in the finished preserve. Gentle mixing without boiling again avoids scorching and keeps the fruit intact while the sugar dissolves completely.

“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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