Take a quantity of ripe raspberries, and set aside the half, selecting
for that purpose the largest and firmest. Then put the remainder into
your preserving pan, mash them, and set them over the fire. As soon
as they have come to a boil, take them out, let them cool, and then
squeeze them through a bag.
While they are cooling, prepare your sugar, which must be fine loaf.
Allow a pound of sugar to every quart of whole raspberries. Having
washed the kettle clean, put the sugar into it, allowing half a pint
of cold water to two pounds of sugar. When it has melted in the water,
put it on the fire, and boil it till the scum ceases to rise, and it
is a thick syrup; taking care to skim it well. Then put in the whole
raspberries, and boil them rapidly a few minutes, but not long enough
to cause them to burst. Take them out with a skimmer full of holes,
and spread them on a large dish to cool. Then mix with the syrup the
juice of those you boiled first, and let it boil about ten or fifteen
minutes. Lastly, put in the whole fruit, and give it one more boil,
seeing that it does not break.
Put it warm into glass jars or tumblers, and when quite cold cover it
closely with paper dipped in brandy, tying another paper tightly over
it.
Strawberries may be done in the same manner; blackberries also.
RASPBERRY JAM.--Take fine raspberries that are perfectly ripe. Weigh
them, and to each pound of fruit allow three quarters of a pound of
fine loaf-sugar. Mash the raspberries, and break up the sugar. Then mix
them together, and put them into a preserving kettle over a good fire.
Stir them frequently and skim them. The jam will be done in half an
hour. Put it warm into glasses, and lay on the top a white paper cut
exactly to fit the inside, and dipped in brandy. Then tie on another
cover of very thick white paper.
Make blackberry jam in the same manner.
TO PRESERVE CRANBERRIES.--The cranberries must be large and ripe. Wash
them, and to six quarts of cranberries allow nine pounds of the best
loaf sugar. Take three quarts of the cranberries, and put them into a
stew-pan with a pint and a half of water. Cover the pan, and boil or
stew them till they are all to pieces. Then squeeze the juice through a
jelly-bag. Put the sugar into a preserving kettle, pour the cranberry
juice over it and let it stand till it is all melted, stirring it
up frequently. Then place the kettle over the fire, and put in the
remaining three quarts of whole cranberries. Let them boil till they
are tender, clear, and of a bright colour, skimming them frequently.
When done, put them warm into jars with the syrup, which should be like
a thick jelly.
RED CURRANT JELLY.--The currants should be perfectly ripe and gathered
on a dry day. Strip them from the stalks, and put them into a stone
jar. Cover the jar, and set it up to the neck in a kettle of boiling
water. Keep the water boiling round the jar till the currants are all
broken, stirring them up occasionally. Then put them into a jelly-bag,
and squeeze out all the juice. To each pint of juice allow a pound
and a quarter of the best loaf-sugar. Put the sugar into a porcelain
kettle, pour the juice over it, and stir it frequently till it is all
melted. Then set the kettle over a moderate fire, and let it boil
twenty minutes, or till you find that the jelly congeals in the spoon
when you hold it in the air; skim it carefully all the time. When the
jelly is done, pour it warm into tumblers, and cover each with two
rounds of white tissue paper, cut to fit exactly the inside of the
glass.
Jelly of gooseberries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, barberries,
blackberries, grapes, and other small fruit may all be made in this
manner.
WHITE CURRANT JELLY.--The currants should be quite ripe, and gathered
on a dry day. Having stripped them from the stalks, put them into a
close stone jar, and set it in a kettle of boiling water. When all the
currants are broken, take them out and strain them through a linen
cloth. To each pint of juice allow a pound and a quarter of the best
double refined loaf-sugar; break it small, and put it into a porcelain
preserving pan with barely sufficient water to melt it; not quite half
a pint to a pound and a quarter of sugar; it must be either clear
spring water or river water filtered. Stir up the sugar while it is
dissolving, and when all is melted, put it over a brisk fire, and boil
and skim it till clear and thick. When the scum ceases to rise, put in
the white currant juice and boil it fast for ten minutes. Then put it
warm into tumblers, and when it is cold, cover it with double white
tissue paper.
In making this jelly, use only a silver spoon, and carefully observe
all the above precautions, that it may be transparent and delicate.
If it is not quite clear and bright when done boiling, you may run it
again through a jelly-bag.
White raspberry jelly may be prepared in the same manner. A very nice
sweetmeat is made of white raspberries preserved whole, by putting them
in white currant jelly during the ten minutes that you are boiling the
juice with the syrup. You may also preserve red raspberries whole, by
boiling them in red currant jelly.
BLACK CURRANT JELLY.--Take large ripe black currants; strip them from
the stalks, and mash them with the back of a ladle. Then put them
into a preserving kettle with a tumbler of water to each quart of
currants; cover it closely, set it over a moderate fire, and when the
currants have come to a boil, take them out, and squeeze them through
a jelly-bag. To each pint of juice you may allow about a pound of
loaf-sugar, and (having washed the preserving kettle perfectly clean)
put in the sugar with the juice; stir them together till well mixed and
dissolved, and then boil it not longer than ten minutes; as the juice
of black currants being very thick will come to a jelly very soon, and
if boiled too long will be tough and ropy.
Black currant jelly is excellent for sore throats; and if eaten freely
on the first symptoms of the disease, will frequently check it without
any other remedy. It would be well for all families to keep it in the
house.
GRAPE JELLY.--Take ripe juicy grapes, pick them from the stems; put
them into a large earthen pan, and mash them with the back of a wooden
ladle, or with a potato beetle. Put them into a kettle, (without any
water,) cover them closely, and let them boil for a quarter of an
hour; stirring them up occasionally from the bottom. Then squeeze
them through a jelly-bag, and to each pint of juice allow a pound of
loaf-sugar. Dissolve the sugar in the grape juice; then put it over a
quick fire in a preserving kettle, and boil and skim it twenty minutes.
When it is a clear thick jelly, take it off, put it warm into tumblers,
and cover them with double tissue paper cut to fit the inside.
In the same manner you may make an excellent jelly for common use, of
ripe fox grapes and the best brown sugar; mixing with the sugar before
it goes on the fire, a little beaten white of egg; allowing two whites
to two pounds of sugar.
BRANDY GRAPES.--Take some large close bunches of fine grapes, (they
must be quite ripe,) and allow to each bunch a quarter of a pound of
bruised sugar candy. Put the grapes and the sugar candy into large
jars, (about two-thirds full,) and fill them up with French brandy. Tie
them up closely, and keep them in a dry place. Morella cherries may be
done in the same manner.
Foreign grapes are kept in bunches, laid lightly in earthen jars of dry
saw-dust.
TO KEEP WILD GRAPES.--Gather the small black wild grapes late in the
season, after they have been ripened by a frost. Pick them from the
stems, and put them into stone jars, (two-thirds full,) with layers of
brown sugar, and fill them up with cold molasses. They will keep all
winter; and they make good common pies. If they incline to ferment in
the jars, give them a boil with additional sugar.