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Dessert

Gooseberries Preserved Whole

Whole gooseberries preserved in a sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Gooseberries Preserved Whole

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gooseberries

  1. Pick off the black eye from the gooseberries, leaving the stalks intact.

  2. Scald the gooseberries in a pot of water without boiling them.

  3. Once tender, transfer them to cold water.

Make the syrup

  1. Clarify the sugar by mixing it with 1 pint of water.

Preserve

  1. When the syrup is cold, place the gooseberries in a preserving pan and cover them with the syrup.

  2. Set the pan on gentle heat.

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

Gooseberries
The main fruit, which holds its shape when gently scalded rather than boiled.
Double-refined sugar
Sweetens the fruit and helps preserve it by drawing out moisture.

The step that matters

Scalding without boiling. Boiling water can split the skins and turn the gooseberries soft and mushy. Keeping the water below a boil lets the fruit become tender while it keeps its shape, so it holds up in the syrup.

“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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