To Preserve Barberries in Bunches
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar in the water for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum.
Cook and jar the barberries
Add the barberries and heat gently, then boil for 5 to 7 minutes until transparent.
Press the berries down into the syrup until they burst.
Transfer to 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 flavour and the berries that the syrup preserves.
- Sugar
- Preserves the fruit by drawing out water and sweetens the syrup.
The step that matters
Add the barberries and heat gently, then boil for 5 to 7 minutes until transparent.. Gentle heating lets the syrup penetrate the berries slowly, so they soften and turn clear while keeping their shape. Boiling too hard or too long can break the skins and make the fruit collapse.
“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.
You might also like
Green Corn Pudding64 recipes
Cornmeal mush12 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.