Take red or Siberian crab apples when they are quite ripe and the
seeds are black. Wash and wipe them, and put them into a kettle
with sufficient water to cover them. Simmer them very slowly till
you find that the skin will come off easily. Then take them out
and peel and core them; extract the cores carefully with a small
knife, so as not to break the apples. Then weigh them, and to
every pound of crab apples allow a pound and a half of loaf-sugar
and a half pint of water. Put the sugar and water into a
preserving kettle, and when they are melted together, set it over
the fire and let it boil. After skimming it once, put in the crab
apples, adding a little cochineal powder rubbed with a knife into
a very small quantity of white brandy till it has dissolved. This
will greatly improve the colour of the apples. Cover them and let
them boil till clear and tender, skimming the syrup when
necessary. Then spread them out on dishes, and when they are cold,
put them into glass jars and pour the syrup over them.
The flavour will be greatly improved by boiling with them in the
syrup, a due proportion of lemon-juice and the peel of the lemons
pared thin so as to have the yellow part only. If you use lemon-juice
put a smaller quantity of water to the sugar. Allow one
large lemon or two smaller ones to each pound of crab apples.
If you find that after they have been kept awhile, the syrup
inclines to become dry or candied, give it another boil with the
crab apples in it, adding a tea-cup full of water to about three
or four pounds of the sweetmeat.