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Dessert

Gooseberry Paste

A thick paste made from boiled gooseberry pulp and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Gooseberry Paste

Gooseberry Paste

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Press the gooseberries through a sieve to extract the juice for jelly.

Make the paste

  1. Weigh the pulp and boil it for about 1 hour and 15 minutes until it forms a dry paste.

  2. Off the heat, stir in 24 oz of sugar for each pound of fruit until nearly dissolved.

  3. Boil the mixture for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

Set and serve

  1. Pour into molds or shallow pans and turn out when ready to serve.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Gooseberries
Their natural pectin and acidity help the pulp thicken and set as it cooks down.
Sugar
Sweetens the paste and helps it firm into a sliceable texture as water evaporates.

The step that matters

Stirring constantly during the final boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, the concentrated fruit and sugar sit close to the pan base and scorch easily. Burnt sugar gives a bitter flavour and dark specks, so constant stirring keeps the heat even.

“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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