Another way to use up a seasonal glut of gooseberries in this tasty homemade preserve. Easy to make as gooseberries are high in pectin and acidic in their own right.
Ingredients for Gooseberry Jelly:
- 4 lbs (1.8 kg) gooseberries
- 2 pints (1.125 litres) water
- 1 lb (450 g) sugar per pint of juice obtained.
Method for Gooseberry Jelly:
- Wash and drain the gooseberries.
- Pick over to remove any unsound fruit but do not top and tail.
- Put into a pan with the water and stew until the fruit is soft and pulpy.
- Test for pectin.
- Turn into a jelly bag and leave overnight to strain.
- Measure the juice and heat in a pan.
- Add lb (450 g) warmed sugar to each pint of juice, stirring untill all the sugar has dissolved.
- Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until the jelly sets when tested.
- Remove the scum.
- Pot and seal whilst still hot.
General Information on Making Jelly Preserves
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Can anyone help? Went to make gooseberry jelly last night and had 5.5 pounds of gooseberries so I added an extra half pint of water to the 1.5 litres recommended. It didn’t reach setting point probably because there was too much water. I strained it through a jelly bag, and rather carry the recipe through and waste 2lbs preserving sugar I need to know…. can I rescue it?
have you tried getting a bottle of pectin, have seen them in Sainsburys and Asda as it may also be low in pectin
also you could try reducung the juice in a pan to about half the volume and testing for the pectin level before adding the sugar
@angela:
on the certo recipe from the box make it like crabapple/ apple jelly. I do & works fine
You can usually get the jam to set, you need to boil away some of the water until it start to get thick. Test on a cold saucer for setting. Good luck.
I never add water. Cook the gooseberries in microwave until mushy. This takes up to 30 mins on medium heat for 2 kilos in my microwave and then strain. No trouble setting.
Pleased to find recipe in old weights and measures. Loads of gooseberries this year for the first time. Look forward to this new venture.
Is it ok to use frozen fruit to make jam?
Yes it’s fine. Just allow 10 per cent more fruit to sugar to compensate for the loss of pectin caused by freezing.
Thank you Julie. In all the years I have been making jelly, I never thought to use the microwave. Have lots of gooseberries, will make my jelly this way in future.
Took a bit longer than I thought to get a set but all of a sudden it did.. Lovely taste