To Preserve Barberries in Bunches

Instructions

1. Take the finest barberries without stones that can be procured, and tie them together in bunches of four or five sprigs.
2. For each half pound of the fruit (which is extremely light), boil one pound of very good sugar in a pint of water for twenty minutes, and clear it well from scum.
3. Throw in the fruit, let it heat gently, and then boil from five to seven minutes, when it will be perfectly transparent.
4. So long as any snapping noise is heard the fruit is not all done; it should be pressed equally down into the syrup until the whole of the berries have burst.
5. Turn it then into jars, which must be covered with skin or two or three folds of thick paper, as soon as the preserve is perfectly cold.
6. The barberries thus prepared make a beautiful garnish for sweet dishes, or for puddings.
7. Proportions: Barberries, tied in bunches, 1-1/2 lb.; sugar 3 lbs.; water 1-1/2 pint: 20 minutes. Barberries boiled in syrup: 5 to 7 minutes.