To Preserve Berries Whole
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Buy fruit that is not too ripe.
Pick over the fruit immediately.
Wash the fruit only if absolutely necessary.
Fill glass jars about two-thirds full with the fruit.
Make the syrup
In a preserving kettle, combine 1 pound of sugar and 1 cup of water for every 2 pounds of fruit.
Heat the mixture slowly until it comes to a boil.
Fill and process
Pour the syrup into the jars over the berries, filling them to the brim.
Place the jars in a pot of cold water on the stove.
Bring the water to a boil.
Remove the jars once the fruit is scalding hot.
Seal the jars tightly.
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
- Fruit
- Forms the whole-berry body of the preserve and supplies the flavor and color.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit's shape and texture.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar to make a syrup that fills the jars around the fruit.
The step that matters
Fill the jars to the brim with hot syrup before sealing. Syrup that covers the fruit fully and leaves no air space helps keep the berries submerged and limits contact with air, which supports keeping them from spoiling and darkening during 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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