Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Select red hairy gooseberries, gathering them in dry weather when ripe but not too soft.
Weigh the gooseberries and cut off the tops and tails with a pair of scissors.
For every 6 lbs of fruit, prepare ½ pint of red currant juice drawn as for jelly.
Make the jam
Place the gooseberries and the currant juice in a preserving pan, boil quickly while stirring well.
When the berries begin to break, add ¾ lb of loaf sugar per lb of fruit and continue simmering.
Keep simmering until the jam becomes firm, skimming and stirring to prevent burning at the bottom.
Boil for about 1 hour (or ½ to ¾ hour with the sugar) to ensure preservation.
Pot and seal
Transfer the jam into pots that are not too large, let it cool completely, then cover with oiled and egged papers.
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. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Gooseberries (in the method)
- Provide the bulk of the jam and its tart flavour and pectin-rich body.
- Red-currant juice
- Adds extra tartness and pectin to help the jam set.
- Loaf sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the jam and helps it thicken and keep as it cooks down.
The step that matters
Stirring and skimming while the jam simmers. Sugar-rich jam scorches easily on the bottom of the pan, which gives a burnt taste. Constant stirring and skimming keep the heat even and remove foam, so the jam sets clean and clear.
“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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