Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick, top, and tail the gooseberries, ensuring they are thoroughly ripe.
Cook
Boil the gooseberries for 20 minutes, skimming frequently as needed.
Add the sugar and boil for an additional 30 minutes after the sugar is dissolved.
Jar and store
Skim well and pour the hot jam into earthenware jars.
Cover and store as directed.
To keep the gooseberries whole, dissolve the sugar in a little water or currant juice before adding the gooseberries.
Shake the pan gently to prevent the jam from burning; avoid stirring to keep the fruit intact.
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
- Supply the fruit, tartness, and natural pectin that help the jam set.
- Preserving sugar
- Sweetens the jam, helps it set, and helps preserve it.
The step that matters
Dissolving the sugar before adding the gooseberries. Undissolved sugar can crystallise and scorch on the base of the pan, while stirring a boiling jam breaks up the fruit. Fully dissolving the sugar first and shaking the pan gently keeps the gooseberries whole and the jam from burning.
“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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