Barberry Marmalade

Barberry Marmalade is a traditional British recipe, based on Robert Kemp Philp's recipe of 1859, for a classic conserve of barberry fruit cooked with sugar until dark and set before being potted. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Barberry Marmalade.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

Makes:

4 jars

Rating:

Tags : British Recipes

This is a classic recipe for a Victorian version of Barberry Marmalade that's derived from Robert Kemp Philp's 1859 volume, The Dictionary of Daily Wants. Below you will find both the recipe in its original form and a modern redaction.

The barberry (Berberis spp is a genus of about 450–500 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs from 1-5 m tall with thorny shoots, native to the temperate and subtropical regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and South America. Typically they bear bunches of pale yellow drooping flowers in May, which are succeeded by oblong scarlet berries, ripening in September. Several are popular garden shrubs, grown for their ornamental leaves, yellow flowers, and red or blue-black berries. They are also valued for crime prevention; being very dense, viciously spiny shrubs, they make very effective barriers impenetrable to burglars. For this reason they are often planted below potentially vulnerable windows, and used as hedges and other barriers. The berries are edible, and rich in vitamin C, though with a very sharp flavour; the thorny shrubs make harvesting them difficult, so in most places they are not widely consumed. Berberis thunbergii is one of the best for culinary use. They were frequently used in the Victorian era, as this recipe demonstrates They are still made into a candy in Estonia, Lithuania and the Ukraine (known as (Barberis). Berberis microphylla or Berberis heterophylla (Calafate) and Berberis darwinii (Michay) are two species found in Patagonia in Argentina and Chile and their edible purple fruit are used for jams and infusions. Zereshk (زرشک) is the Persian name for the dried fruit of Berberis vulgaris, which are widely cultivated in Iran. Zereshk is widely used in cooking, imparting a tart flavor to chicken dishes. It is usually cooked with rice, called zereshk polo, and provides a nice meal with chicken.Zereshk jam, zereshk juice, and zereshk fruit rolls are also produced in Iran.

Original Recipe

BARBERRY MARMALADE.—Put a pint of water into a stew-pan, and throw in three pounds of ripe barberries, boil these three several times; then remove from the fire, beat the fruit into a pulp, and put over the fire again until the moisture is absorbed; add to the pulp three pounds of boiled sugar, boil the whole together, stirring well in the meantime, and then pot.

Water, 1 pint; barberries, 3lbs.; sugar, 3lbs.

Modern Redaction

Ingredients:

600ml water
1.35kg ripe barberries, de-seeded
1.3kg sugar

Method:

Combine the water and barberries in a pan. Bring to a boil then cover and continue cooking until the fruit are soft and breaking apart (about 45 minutes). Take off the heat and use hand blender to render the fruit into a pulp.

Return to the hob and continue cooking, uncovered, until the liquid has been absorbed. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, heat the sugar until boiling. Carefully stir the sugar into the fruit pulp then bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly.

Skim the surface of the marmalade then allow to cool a little then pour into warmed, sterilized, jars then allow to cool and cover with airtight lids.

Find more Traditional Victorian Recipes Here