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Dessert

Red Gooseberries Whole

A preserve made by boiling whole red gooseberries with sugar until the skins become translucent and the syrup thickens.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Red Gooseberries Whole

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Select ripe red gooseberries and clip off the top of each berry.

  2. Make a small slit in the side of each berry with a needle.

  3. Combine the gooseberries and sugar in a pot, using equal weights.

Cook

  1. Boil gently, skimming off any foam.

  2. When the skins become transparent, remove the fruit with a skimmer and place it in jars.

  3. Continue boiling the syrup until it reaches a jelly-like consistency.

Finish

  1. Strain the syrup and pour it over the fruit in the jars.

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

Red gooseberries
Provide the fruit body and natural pectin and acidity that give the jam its flavor and structure.
Granulated sugar
Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates in the syrup, helps it set to a jelly-like texture.

The step that matters

Continue boiling the syrup until it reaches a jelly-like consistency. Sugar and fruit pectin need enough concentration and heat to gel. Stopping too early leaves a runny syrup, while cooking too long can make the jam overly stiff or darken its flavor.

“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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