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Dessert

Barberry Jelly

Barberry jelly is a sweet preserve made by boiling barberries, straining, and adding powdered sugar.

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. Boil the barberries with cold water for 15 minutes.

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

  3. Strain the mixture through a hair sieve or muslin strainer, then pass the juice through a jelly bag until clear.

Make the jelly

  1. Weigh the 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.

  4. 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 the tart flavour and natural pectin that help the juice set into jelly.
Fine powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the jelly set and keep its texture.

The step that matters

Boil the jelly again for 10 minutes, skimming carefully. Boiling concentrates the sugar and pectin so the juice reaches a set. Skimming removes foam and scum, which would otherwise cloud the jelly and spoil its clarity.

“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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