Cranberry Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the cranberries
Wash the cranberries and add boiling water.
Cover and boil for 5 minutes over high heat.
Stir with a wooden spoon and press through a colander.
Sweeten and set
Add sugar and return to the fire, then simmer for 5 minutes.
Test by dropping a little into cold water; if it sinks and doesn't mix, it's done.
Pour and serve
Rinse a glass or mold with cold water before pouring in the jelly to prevent sticking.
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
- Cranberries
- Provide the fruit body, natural pectin for setting, and tart acidity.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, with pectin and acid, helps the jelly firm as it cools.
- Boiling water
- Softens the berries and draws out their juice and pectin.
The step that matters
Simmering until the test passes. Sugar must dissolve fully and the mixture must cook long enough for pectin and acid to form a gel. Stopping early leaves a runny jelly, so use the cold-water test before pouring.
“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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