Vert Fine Gooseberry Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Seed the larger rough red gooseberries and scoop out the pulp.
Combine the pulp with whole gooseberries and stir over medium heat for a few minutes to extract the juice.
Strain the mixture and weigh the juice.
Make the jam
Pour 2 lbs of juice into 4 lbs of seeded gooseberries.
Boil gently for 25 minutes.
Add 14 oz of sugar for each lb of fruit and juice, stirring until dissolved.
Boil the preserve for an additional 12 to 15 minutes, skimming well during cooking.
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
- Gooseberries
- Provide the fruit body and natural pectin that helps the jam thicken and set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam, preserves it, and helps it set when boiled to the right concentration.
- Juice from gooseberries
- Adds extra pectin-rich liquid that helps the jam gel and carries the fruit flavour.
The step that matters
Boiling the preserve after adding the sugar. Sugar must dissolve fully before the final boil, or it can crystallise. The jam sets only when enough water evaporates and sugar and pectin reach the right concentration, so under-boiling leaves it runny while over-boiling can make it stiff or dull.
“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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