Barberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the fruit
Strip the barberries from the stalks, discarding any that are spotted.
Make the syrup
Combine the sugar and water in a pot.
Boil the mixture until it becomes white and falls in thick masses from a spoon.
Cook and jar the jam
Add the barberries to the pot.
Stir over a brisk fire for 6 minutes.
Remove any scum that forms.
Pour the jam into jars or glasses.
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
- Supply the main fruit flavour and tartness, and the pulp that cooks down into the jam.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and, as it concentrates in the boiling syrup, thickens it and helps it set.
The step that matters
Boiling the sugar syrup to the thick stage. Sugar syrup must be boiled until it is concentrated enough to fall in thick masses from a spoon. If it is undercooked, the jam stays runny and may not set. Overcooking makes it stiff and prone to crystallising.
“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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