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Dessert

Barb Err T-jam

A jam made from barberries, brown sugar, and water, cooked until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Barb Err T-jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Pick over the barberries, remove the stems, and weigh the berries.

  2. Put the barberries into a preserving kettle with an equal weight of brown sugar and ½ cup of cold water for each pound of sugar.

Cook

  1. Let the sugar melt and the fruit slowly reach the boiling point, stirring occasionally.

  2. When the fruit boils, reduce the heat to simmer and cook the jam slowly for an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

  3. When the fruit looks clear and is of the proper consistency for jam, remove the kettle from the heat.

Jar and seal

  1. Let the jam cool, then transfer it into glass or earthen jars or jelly glasses.

  2. Cover the surface of the jam with a round piece of white paper wet with brandy, then seal the jars airtight.

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 fruit and tartness that form the body of the jam.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the jam and helps it set into a thick, spreadable texture as it cooks down.
Cold water
Dissolves the sugar at the start so the fruit cooks evenly without scorching.

The step that matters

Cooking the jam to the proper consistency. Jam sets when enough water evaporates and the sugar concentration rises, so removing it too early leaves it runny, while overcooking makes it stiff and can scorch the sugar, especially while stirring to prevent burning.

“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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