PRESERVING FRUITS

PRESERVING FRUITS

The preserving of fruits has always been considered a principal branch of confectionery, and one which requires no small degree of attention and diligence. As you are instructed in the boiling of sugars in its several degrees, named in each recipe, should it be boiled lower the fruit will lose its colour, turn windy, and spoil; if it is boiled higher it will rock and cannot be got out of the jars. Another important point is to preserve such fruit only as is quite fresh picked, the flavour, which is a very essential consideration, being lost if the fruit be stale. Cleanliness in this branch, as in every other, must not be neglected. Preserving pans, &c., must resemble a looking-glass as much as possible. Fruits well preserved will keep in almost any place. It is better, however, to keep them neither in too dry nor in too damp a place. The jars must be well protected from air by covering each with writing-paper dipped in brandy, covered and tied over with wet bladder.

Note. -- A wood skimmer must be made of ash or elm about 4 inches long, 3 inches broad, and 1 inch thick. There is a handle fixed on one side, which take hold of and lay the wood gently on the fruit where the scum is, then take it off and scrape off the scum, and so on until all is taken off. 

252. -- Large Strawberries.

Procure the largest Carolina or Hanoverian strawberries, pack two layers with care in a flat-bottomed preserving pan, then pour over them 1 pint of currant juice, cover them with smooth clarified sugar, and over it a sheet of paper, set them on a warm part of the stove until the syrup is new-milk warm, then take them off; next morning take them out one at a time with an egg-spoon and lay them on a fine splinter sieve set over a pan to drain; add to the syrup a little clarified sugar and boil it to the degree called 'pearled,' put in the fruit with care and simmer them round; as soon as the syrup is off the degree called pearled, take them from the stove, skim, and put them with great care into a flat pudding pot, cover them up for two days, then lay them on a splinter sieve to drain, and add to the syrup 1 or 2 pints of clarified sugar as occasion may require, with the proportion of red currant juice, boil it to the degree called pearled, and put in your fruit with great care and simmer them very gently round the sides of the pan; as soon as the syrup is off the degree called pearled skim them and put them into jars, filling them within half an inch of the top. When cold cover them with writing-paper dipped in brandy and bladder them over. 

253. -- Strawberry Jam.

Take any quantity of scarlet strawberries, pass them through a fine splinter sieve, add to them 1 or 2 pints of red currant juice, according to the quantity of strawberries, put the same weight of sifted loaf sugar as fruit, boil them over a bright fire, keep stirring all the time with a spatter, and with it make a figure of eight in the pan to prevent the jam taking hold of the bottom; when it has boiled ten minutes take it off and take a little jam out with a scraper, which drop upon a plate; if it retains the mark of the scraper it is of a proper consistency and ready to put into jars, but should it run thin on the plate it must be boiled again until of the substance above named. It is necessary here to observe that all sorts of red fruit should be kept as short a time as possible on the fire, and for that reason let your fires be perfectly bright before you use them. 

254. -- Raspberry Jelly.

Take 4 quarts of clear raspberry juice, add to it 8 pounds of sifted lump sugar, set it on a clear fire in your preserving pan, stir it with the spatter to keep it from burning; let it rise, then take it from the fire, skim it, set it on the fire again, and let it rise three or four times, skimming it each time. If, on taking out the skimmer, small flakes hang from it, it is of a proper consistency and may be put into jars. When cold cover it with writing-paper dipped in brandy, and bladder them over. 

255. -- Black Currant Jelly.

Pick black currants from the stalks as well and in as short a 'time as you can, then put them into strong earthen jars or stew pots, cover them well over and set them in a slow oven for one night; next morning put them into the jelly-bag, and as soon as drained, which will be in three or four hours, measure the juice. To each pint of juice take 1 lb. 4 ozs. of sifted loaf sugar, boil and skim it as before. You may if you think proper clarify the sugar, but this is a much easier way. 

256. -- -Red Currant dam.

Pick red currants until you have 7 lbs., then force the whole of them through a splinter sieve, to which add 7 lbs. of sifted lump sugar; boil this very well over a brisk fire for twenty minutes, stirring it all the time with the spatter. This is very useful for tartlets, cheaper than rasps, and a much better colour. Put it into jars, cover them with paper dipped in brandy and bladder them over. 

257. -- Apple Jelly.

Take codlin apples, cut them very thin across, fill your preserving pan nearly full, cover them with soft water and then with a sheet of paper, set them on a slow fire, let them simmer slowly for a considerable time to extract the jelly from the apple. They must not on any account be stirred about in the pan. When the virtue appears to be quite extracted from them pour them into a jelly-bag. Cut more apples as before, about half the quantity, put them into the pan, and pour over them the extract from the first apples, simmer them very slowly as before. When the essence is all extracted put them into a jelly-bag. This jelly is used in the putting up of all preserved fruits. 

258. -- Gooseberry Jam.

Take 7 lbs. of clean, picked, dry gooseberries, put them into your preserving pan with 1 pint of water and 7 lbs. of sifted loaf sugar. Boil over a clear fire from twenty minutes to half an hour; when they are boiled to the consistency required take them off, put them into jars and secure them from the air as the others. 

259. -- Orange Marmalade.

Take 12 Seville and 12 China oranges, pare the outer skin off as thin as you can, lay it in soft water and freshen it every two hours to take out the bitterness, then pull off the white skin from the pared oranges and throw it away; cut them across, squeeze the juice from them, and set them on the fire in the preserving pan with plenty of soft water, boil them until so soft as to pulp through a hair sieve. Then boil the outer skin equally soft. If it will not go through, beat it well in a mortar and then put it through; add to it the other pulp and the juice. Weigh it, and to each pound allow 1 lb. 2 ozs. of sifted loaf sugar. Boil this well together, stirring it all the time, until it will retain the mark of the scraper, when it will be ready to put into jars, which must be secured from air as before.