To Preserve Barberries in Bunches
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil 3 pounds of sugar in 1 pint of water for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum.
Cook the barberries
Add the barberries and heat gently.
Boil for 5 to 7 minutes until the fruit is transparent.
Press the berries down into the syrup until they burst and no snapping noise is heard.
Jar and seal
Pour the mixture into jars and cover with skin or thick paper once cooled.
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
- Barberries
- Provide the tart fruit that is cooked until transparent and bursts into the syrup.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, boiled into syrup, helps preserve it.
The step that matters
Pressing the berries until they burst. Boiling alone may not fully soften the fruit. Pressing until the skins split lets the syrup penetrate the berries, so the fruit is evenly preserved and sweetened throughout.
“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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