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To Dry Gooseberries

This recipe describes how to dry gooseberries by simmering them in sugar syrup and sun-drying.

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

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the syrup

  1. Put gooseberries in a pot and sprinkle sugar over them.

  2. Heat on low until syrup begins to form. Remove from heat.

Scald the fruit

  1. Scald the gooseberries in syrup for 2 to 3 days. Remove from syrup.

Dry and store

  1. Place on sieves to dry in the sun or near a fire.

  2. Optionally dip in powdered sugar to candy them.

  3. Store in tin boxes with paper between layers.

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

Gooseberries
The main fruit, whose natural tartness is balanced by the sugar.
Sugar
Draws water out of the fruit and forms a syrup that sweetens and preserves it.

The step that matters

Scalding the gooseberries in syrup. Sugar draws water out of the fruit slowly through osmosis, and the syrup preserves it as it dries. Heating the syrup too hard or stopping too early can leave fruit that dries unevenly or spoils.

“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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