Barberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Pick the barberries from the stalks and place them in a preserving pan.
Add the sugar to the fruit and simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently without boiling.
Once reduced to a soft pulp, strain the juice through a fine sieve.
Set the jelly
Return the juice to the pan and boil over high heat, skimming off any scum that rises.
After about 15 minutes, test the jelly by dropping a little on a cold plate; if it sets, it's done.
If not, continue boiling and testing until it sets.
Skim off any remaining scum and pour the jelly into jars.
Seal the jars
Cover the jars with brandy-soaked paper and tie with string.
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
- Barberries
- Provide the tart fruit flavour and natural pectin needed for the jelly to set.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the juice and, once boiled, helps the jelly reach a set by binding water.
The step that matters
Testing for set. Boiling concentrates the juice and pectin until it gels, but overcooking can make the jelly stiff and undercooking leaves it runny. A cold plate test shows whether it will set as it cools.
“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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