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To Preserve Barberries in Bunches

A method of preserving barberries by boiling them in sugar water and storing them in jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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To Preserve Barberries in Bunches

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Tie barberries in bunches of four or five sprigs.

  2. Boil sugar in water for 20 minutes until clear.

Cook the barberries

  1. Add the barberries and heat gently.

  2. Boil for 5 to 7 minutes until the fruit is transparent and bursts.

  3. Pour into jars and cover with skin or thick paper once cool.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 the bright colour of the preserve.
Sugar
Sweetens the preserve and helps it keep by binding water and inhibiting spoilage.
Water
Dissolves the sugar to form the syrup the fruit cooks in.

The step that matters

Boil for 5 to 7 minutes until the fruit is transparent and bursts. Boiling too briefly leaves the fruit underdone and the syrup thin, while overcooking can turn the fruit tough and dull. Watching for the fruit to turn clear and split signals that the sugar has reached a set point suited to preserving.

“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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