Strawberry Acid
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the syrup base
Dissolve the citric acid in the water.
Pour the solution over the strawberries.
Let the mixture stand in a cool place for 24 hours.
Draw off the liquid and add 3 more pounds of strawberries.
Let it stand for another 24 hours.
Cook and store
Add an equal weight of sugar to the liquid.
Boil the mixture for 3-4 minutes each day for 3 days.
Cork tightly and seal, then store in a dry, cool place.
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
- Strawberries
- Provide the fruit flavour, colour and body of the preserve.
- Citric acid
- Adds sourness that brightens flavour and helps the preserve keep.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and thickens it as the liquid reduces.
The step that matters
Boiling the mixture each day for 3 days. Repeated short boils over several days help keep the preserve from spoiling and let the sugar and fruit set gradually. Boiling too long at once can scorch the sugar or cook the fruit to mush, so keep each boil to the stated 3-4 minutes.
“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.
More strawberry preserves recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.