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Dessert

Barberry Jam

A sweet preserve made from ripe barberries, sugar, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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Barberry Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Strip the barberries from the stalks, discarding any that are spotted.

Make the jam

  1. In a pot, combine the sugar and water, and boil until it becomes white and falls in thick masses from the spoon.

  2. Add the barberries to the pot and stir over a brisk fire for 6 minutes.

  3. Remove any scum that forms and pour the jam into jars or glasses.

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

Barberries
Provide the fruit's tart flavour and natural pectin, which helps the jam set.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, when boiled, thickens the syrup and helps preserve the jam.

The step that matters

Boil the sugar and water until thick. The syrup must reach a dense, thick stage before the fruit goes in. Enough sugar concentration helps the jam set and keeps it stable, so undercooked syrup can leave the jam runny.

“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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