To Dry Green Gooseberries
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the gooseberries
Select fresh, fully grown green gooseberries and cut off the buds.
Split the tops halfway down and scoop out the seeds using a small spoon.
Make the syrup and cook
In a pot, combine 1 ½ lbs sugar and 1 pint water; boil for 15 minutes.
Skim the syrup thoroughly and add the seeded gooseberries.
Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the gooseberries are clear and tender.
Remove the gooseberries and drain them slightly.
Dry
Spread them singly on dishes and dry gradually in a cool oven or sunny window.
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
- Green gooseberries
- Provide the fruit that becomes tender and clear during simmering and then dries into a chewy piece.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, once concentrated in the syrup, helps preserve it and gives the dried texture.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar to form the syrup the gooseberries cook in.
The step that matters
Simmer for 5 to 7 minutes until the gooseberries are clear and tender. Cooking in syrup softens the fruit and lets sugar penetrate it. Overcooking can break the skins and make the fruit mushy, while undercooking leaves it firm and less able to absorb sugar.
“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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