Barberry berries can be called universal, as they are suitable not only for the preparation of desserts, but also are often used as a flavorful seasoning for a variety of dishes. But that's not all! The fruits of this plant have powerful healing properties, and therefore are quite actively used in folk medicine. Today we will talk about jam from barberry. What are the options for its preparation and how useful is this delicacy? Let's find out!
. About the benefits of
. In small bright red fruits, valuable amino acids are concentrated, including tartaric, lemon and apple, as well as vitamins A and C. They are also rich in pectins, sugars and mineralsalts. Thanks to this set, jam and other dishes from barberry have special useful properties:
- tonifies the intestines;
- show a diuretic and choleretic effect;
- improves appetite;
- calms the nervous system;
- removes inflammation;
- improve blood circulation;
- are used as antipyretic agents.
Plus, barberry berries contain pectins, which contribute to the removal of toxins, heavy metal salts and other harmful compounds. With their help, you can strengthen the heart muscle and gently clean the intestines with constipation.
Berry to the berry. ..
In fact, in the recipes for cooking jam from barberry there is nothing difficult. All the ingredients are quite accessible and simple. The only thing I want to stress on is the degree of ripeness of the berries themselves. For jam it is recommended to rip off not fully ripened fruit, as ripe will be very soft and when cooked quickly lose their shape.
Important! Green barberry is not used for food either fresh or after heat treatment. In such berries contain poisonous substances, which completely decompose after ripening!
Remove fruit as it ripens - often in summer, but the best taste characteristics are those that were collected after the first frost. Just such as can not be better suited for harvesting jam from barberry for the winter.
Note! If you pour the berries with sugar and put them in the freezer, then you can use them throughout the year, for example, for making compotes, fruit drinks, liqueurs and other drinks!
The best recipes
Does your site grow barberry? Then be sure to make a jam of it from one of the following recipes! Any of the proposed desserts will be very tasty, fragrant and incredibly useful.
Classic recipe
For traditional barberry jam you need a kilo of freshly picked fruit, half a liter of water and 2 kilograms of granulated sugar. Proceed:
- washed and dried berries are transferred to a large container;
- add a pound of sugar and leave everything at room temperature for a day;
- during this time, the fruit will give the juice, which must be drained;
Tip! It is desirable not to discard the barberry juice that forms, but to preserve it. So you get another natural "medicine" that will help to strengthen immunity in the cold season!
- pour the amount of water specified in the recipe into a saucepan, add a kilo of sugar and cook the syrup;
- with the syrup, fill the barberry and leave the mass for another 4 hours;
- set berries in a syrup on a fire, cover with a lid and with a strong supply of gas bring to a boil;
- after, reduce fire and cook our future jam with constant stirring, collect foam;
- after about 20 minutes, pour the rest of the sugar, stir and cook for another 10 minutes;
- lay out a hot dessert on previously sterilized jars and immediately cork.
Raw barberry jam
Among the majority of housewives, two recipes of jam from barberry without cooking are very popular. The first includes only berry and sugar, in the second in addition to these ingredients, also add lemon.
- Barberry with sugar: the fruit is thoroughly washed in several waters and passed through a meat grinder. For each kilogram of berry mass, add two kilograms of sugar and mix thoroughly with a wooden spatula - the sugar should completely disperse. We pour out the prepared jam on clean jars, cover with capron lids and send it to the refrigerator or to the cellar.
"Live" jam preserves the aroma and benefits of fresh berries for the whole winter
- Barbaris with sugar and lemon: berries( how much will go in a jar) are washed, dried, if desired, we remove the bones and grind with a meat grinder or blender. We cut two "tails" from two lemons, arbitrarily cut them into slices, remove the stones and also grind them. We connect the berry mass with fruit and add 1.5 kg of sugar. Stir until the last one is fully dispersed. We spread the finished dessert on the cans and close it with plastic lids. We store in the cold.
Note! This jam is called "Ascorbic", because in it, thanks to barberry and lemon, a huge portion of vitamin C is concentrated!
With apples
In order to make jam from apples with barberry, one should prepare kilo apples, preferably acid varieties, the same number of berries and about 0.7 kg of sugar.
- first deal with berries - mine and remove the bones;
- go to apples - also thoroughly washed, released from seeds and cut into slices;
- fruits and berries put in a pan, add a little water and cook for about a quarter of an hour;
- add sugar and cook for another 10-15 minutes;
- ready dessert is laid out on clean cans and corked for the winter.
Now you know how to cook jam from barberry. The proposed recipes can hardly be called complex or expensive. Each of them assumes the use of a minimal set of affordable products, of which in a short time you can prepare a useful treat for the whole family. Be healthy!