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Dessert

To Bottle Gooseberries

Preserves Warrington gooseberries in syrup-filled bottles, sealed with cork and wax.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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To Bottle Gooseberries

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Gather Warrington gooseberries in the morning and pick them into dry, clean bottles.

  2. Fill the bottles with syrup and cork them tightly, securing with string.

Scald and seal

  1. Place the bottles upright in a large vessel filled with cold water up to the necks of the bottles.

  2. Cover the vessel and bring the water to a boil, then remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

  3. Check that the fruit has risen about an inch from the bottom of the bottle to ensure it is scalded properly.

  4. Allow the bottles to cool completely, then refit any corks that may have loosened.

  5. Dip the nozzle of each bottle in hot bottle-wax to seal.

Store

  1. Store the finished bottles in the cellar, arranged like wine bottles.

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

Warrington gooseberries
Form the main body of the preserve, holding their shape and flavour during scalding.
Syrup
Provides sweetness and moisture, filling the bottles around the fruit.
Bees'-wax
Forms a airtight seal over the bottle nozzle, keeping air out during storage.

The step that matters

Scalding the bottles. The water must be brought to a boil and held for the stated time so the fruit is heated through and its air is driven out. Check the fruit has risen, since insufficient heating leaves the fruit to spoil 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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