The original recipe for making gooseberry jam with mint for the winter
Gooseberry is a well-known berry. There are many varieties and tastes and is well suited for jam. Moreover, when cooking, you can experiment with the ingredients - gooseberries go well with raspberries, currants, oranges, lemon. But there is another interesting recipe - gooseberry jam with mint. The taste of such a dessert turns out to be exquisite and original. Such jam will turn out to surprise your loved ones, having prepared jars for the winter.
Features of the recipe
Gooseberries often have a thick skin that prevents sugar from seeping in. Therefore, it is recommended to pierce each berry or cut the tails with a knife or scissors, slightly cut the skin and expose the pulp.
To add acidity to the jam, you should also use half a lemon. It goes well with mint, and the jam will be even more original. In addition, lemon is a preservative. Therefore, its use will ensure a long shelf life of workpieces.
Required ingredients
To make gooseberry mint jam, you need the following ingredients:
- 1 kilogram of gooseberries;
- 1 kilogram of sugar;
- 2 glasses of water;
- 8 sprigs of mint.
For better storage of jars of jam, it is recommended to add a pinch of citric acid.
Product selection rules
Any kind of gooseberry is suitable for this dessert. But it is better to select only ripe berries - unripe ones will not be able to boil properly in mashed potatoes. You should also get rid of spoiled berries, as they can spoil the taste of the dessert.
It is allowed to replace mint with lemon balm - then the taste of the finished dish will turn out to be different, with a subtle lemon aroma. Also, these herbs combine well, they can be combined.
Preparation of containers
For blanks for the winter, it is better to take small glass jars. It is more convenient to use screw caps. First, they dress without special devices. Secondly, after opening, such cans are more convenient to use. Thirdly, if you unscrew the lids carefully, you can use them several times.
In order for the jam not to start to deteriorate, not yet reaching winter, it is necessary to prepare the container in advance. Glass jars should be thoroughly washed and sterilized. This can be done as follows:
- fill them with water by a third and put in the microwave;
- put in a pot of water and boil;
- fill with water and put in the oven;
- hold over steam from a kettle or saucepan.
Then you need to immediately use the jars so that they do not have time to get dirty. There is no need to let the jars cool: the jam can be shifted immediately.
How to make gooseberry mint jam for the winter
In order to prepare blanks for the winter from gooseberries and mint, you must:
- Wash the berries and sort.
- Trim the ponytails.
- Rinse again and discard in a colander.
- Put the berries in a saucepan and throw in the mint sprigs.
- Sugar syrup should be made in another saucepan: you need to mix the sand with water, cook for 10 seconds and stir well until completely dissolved.
- The berries now need to be filled with syrup and left to cool under the lid.
- After 5 hours, you need to bring the berries to a boil and then cool.
- Repeat this again, after which you should pull out the mint sprigs and pour the jam into sterile jars.
How to store blanks
The optimum storage temperature for jars of jam is from +5 to +20 degrees. Therefore, they will perfectly stay on the balcony, in the cellar or in the refrigerator.
Due to the use of a large amount of sugar in cooking, as well as citric acid or lemon, such blanks can stand for a long time.
But it is better not to take risks and not keep them longer than two years.
