To Preserve Barberries in Bunches
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Tie the barberries in bunches of four or five sprigs.
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar in water for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum.
Cook and preserve
Add the barberries and heat gently.
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
- Provide the tart fruit flavour and bright colour that the syrup carries.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and helps preserve the fruit by drawing out water.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can form an even syrup around the fruit.
The step that matters
Boiling the barberries until transparent. Boiling for too short a time leaves the fruit underdone, while overcooking can toughen the skins. The berries should turn clear as sugar slowly replaces their water, which is what preserves them.
“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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