Gooseberry Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Crush the gooseberries, cherries, and raspberries together.
Leave the mixture to ferment in an earthen jar for 24 hours.
If the juice looks clear, press the fruit through a large clean sieve using your hands.
Make the syrup
Weigh the liquid and add 2 pounds of sugar for every 1¼ pounds of liquid.
Melt the mixture over a clear fire and boil it four times.
Skim off any foam and pour the syrup into a large earthen vessel.
Bottle and store
Once cool, pour the syrup into pint bottles, cork them well, and store in a 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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the main tart flavour and body of the syrup, with pectin helping it thicken.
- Ripe cherries
- Add sweetness, colour and a deeper fruity flavour to the syrup.
- Red raspberries
- Add aroma and a bright fruity flavour to the syrup.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the juice and, once boiled down, helps preserve the syrup.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugared juice. Sugar and the juice must be heated enough to dissolve fully and concentrate, so the syrup thickens and keeps well. Too little boiling leaves it thin and more prone to spoiling in storage.
“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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