Superior Barberry-jelly, and Marmalade
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Strip the barberries from the stems and wash them in spring water.
Drain and bruise the barberries slightly.
Place the barberries in a clean stone jar with just the liquid that clings to them.
Put the jar in a pan of water and steam the fruit until tender, about 30 minutes to 1 hour.
Make the jelly and marmalade
Pour off the clear juice, strain it, weigh it, and boil it rapidly for 5 to 7 minutes with 18 ounces of sugar for every pound of juice.
For the marmalade, press the barberries through a sieve with a wooden spoon and boil them quickly for the same time with the same amount of sugar.
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 juice and pectin that give the jelly its body and flavour.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the juice and, with boiling, helps the liquid thicken and set.
The step that matters
Rapid boiling of the juice with sugar. Boiling the juice and sugar hard for only the stated 5 to 7 minutes is what drives the mixture to a set. Boiling too long can darken and dull the flavour, while boiling too short may leave it runny. Weighing the juice keeps the sugar ratio correct.
“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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