To Preserve Barberries in Bunches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Tie the barberries in bunches of four or five sprigs.
Make the syrup
In a pot, boil the sugar in water for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum.
Cook and pack
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 cool.
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
- The fruit being preserved, providing the tart flavour and colour of the finished berries.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the fruit and, as a concentrated syrup, draws water out of the berries to help preserve them.
The step that matters
Boiling the barberries until transparent. The berries must absorb concentrated sugar syrup to become transparent and keep their shape. Heating gently first lets the syrup penetrate, while overboiling can toughen the skins or break the fruit down too early.
“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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