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Dessert

Gooseberry Jelly

A jelly made by boiling gooseberries, straining, adding sugar, and simmering until firm.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Gooseberry Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Cut off the tops and tails of the gooseberries.

  2. Place the gooseberries in a preserving pan.

  3. Stir them over the fire until they are quite soft.

  4. Strain the softened gooseberries through a sieve.

Make the jelly

  1. Add ¾ lb. of loaf sugar per pint of juice.

  2. Boil the juice and sugar together for nearly ¾ hour, stirring and skimming all the time.

  3. Test the jelly by pouring a little onto a plate; if it is firm, it is done.

Pot and store

  1. Transfer the jelly to small pots.

  2. Cover the pots with oiled and egged papers, the same as for currant jelly.

  3. Store the covered pots in a dry place.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

96Calories
7 gProtein
6 gFat
3 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  3. Bread + nutmegtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,997 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gooseberries
Provide the fruit and natural pectin and acid that set the jelly.
Loaf sugar (in the method)
Sweetens the juice and helps it set into a firm, spreadable jelly.

The step that matters

Testing the set on a plate. Jelly sets only when enough sugar, acid and pectin are present and the mixture is boiled long enough to reach the setting point. A cold plate test shows whether it is firm; undercooked jelly stays runny, while overcooking can make it stiff and dull.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, egg, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Sagefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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