I realize that not everyone has two gooseberry bushes growing right outside his or her house, but I do, and so I give myself over on a long summer afternoon to making gooseberry jam. I never have nearly enough (and I usually double the recipe below), because I use it on so many things during the winter, always reminding me poignantly of summer days, and my friends and relatives like it so much that they all get some for Christmas. So it’s worth the effort of topping and tailing the berries and watching the pot anxiously as the berries boil. I always feel so good when the jam is finally all tucked away in jars. The gooseberries should still be green when you pick them (or buy them at a farmers’ market). If they’ve turned pink, they are too ripe and have lost a lot of their tart flavor. The jam turns mysteriously dark rose red as it cooks, so the final confection is a handsome color.
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Top and tail the gooseberries—meaning, remove the hard brown stem and the little dark spot on the tail. You can do this with a sharp knife, or just use your thumbnail. Wash the berries, and put them in a large pot with the sugar and water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down a bit, and boil steadily, stirring often, for about 15 minutes.
Step 2
Start testing. First, scoop up a spoonful of the boiling jam, and let it fall back into the pot. If it falls in drops that begin to hold together as one, it is done. I always double-check by putting a saucer in the fridge, or briefly in the freezer, and spooning a little of the boiling jam onto that. If the jam holds together and wrinkles slightly when you push it, that means it is done. If not, continue to cook it. You’ll probably have to make several tests before you get it right, and sometimes it takes much longer than you think it will.
Step 3
Meanwhile, pour boiling water into either four 1-cup jelly jars or two pint jars. When the jam is done, empty the jars and pour the boiling jam into them, right up to the top, then seal them. If you find that your jam is too thin when you open the first jar, you can boil up all the jam again and give it another 4–5 minutes of cooking.
