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Dessert

Barberry Jelly

A sweet preserve made from barberries, water, and powdered sugar, boiled and strained into jars.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Barberry Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Extract the juice

  1. Combine barberries and cold water in a pot. Boil for 15 minutes.

  2. Bruise the barberries with the back of a wooden spoon.

  3. Pour the mixture into a fine sieve or muslin strainer, then pass the juice through a jelly bag until clear.

Make the jelly

  1. Weigh the clear juice and boil it rapidly for 10 minutes.

  2. Stir in an equal weight of fine powdered sugar until dissolved.

  3. Boil the jelly again for 10 minutes, skimming carefully.

Jar the jelly

  1. Pour the jelly into warm jars or glasses to prevent breaking.

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 natural pectin and tartness, which help the juice set into jelly.
Fine powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and, with the fruit's pectin and acid, helps the jelly set.

The step that matters

Boil the jelly again for 10 minutes, skimming carefully. Sugar and pectin only gel when the mixture reaches the right concentration, so boiling must be steady and long enough. Too little boiling leaves the jelly runny, while too much can make it stiff and sugary. Skimming removes foam so the jelly stays clear.

“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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