Put the fruit into a stone jar; set this in a kettle of tepid water,
and put it upon the fire. Let it boil, closely covered, until the
fruit is broken to pieces; strain, pressing the bag (a stout coarse
one) hard, putting in but a few handfuls at a time, and between each
squeezing turning it inside out to scald off the pulp and skins. To
each pint of juice allow a pound of sugar. Set the juice on alone to
boil, and while it is warming divide the sugar into several different
portions, and put into shallow pie-dishes or pans that will fit in your
ovens; heat in these, opening the ovens now and then to stir it and
prevent burning. Boil the juice just _twenty minutes_ from the moment
it begins fairly to boil. By this time the sugar should be so hot you
cannot bear your hand in it. Should it melt around the edges, do not
be alarmed. The burned parts will only form into lumps in the syrup,
and can easily be taken out. Throw the sugar into the boiling juice,
stirring rapidly all the while. It will “hiss” as it falls in, and melt
very quickly. Withdraw your spoon when you are sure it is dissolved.
Let the jelly just come to a boil, to make all certain, and take the
kettle instantly from the fire. Roll your glasses or cups in hot water,
and fill with the scalding liquid. If these directions be strictly
followed, and the fruit is at the proper state of ripeness, there need
be no dread of failure. I have often had the jelly “form” before I
filled the last glass.
I wish it were in my power, by making known the advantages of the
process I have described, to put an end to the doubts and anxieties
attendant upon the old-fashioned method of boiling jelly into a
preserve. This plan is so simple and safe, the jelly made so superior
in flavor and color to that produced by boiling down juice and fruit,
that no one who has ever tried both ways can hesitate to give it the
preference. I have put up jelly in no other way for eighteen years, and
have never failed once.
Strawberry jelly should have a little lemon-juice added to that of the
fruit. Both it and blackberry, and very ripe raspberry jelly, are apt
to be less firm than that made from more tart fruits; still, do not
boil it. Set it in the sun, as I have directed at the beginning of the
section upon preserves and fruit jellies, filling one cup from another
as the contents shrink. The sun will boil it down with less waste,
and less injury to color and taste, than the fire will. Cooking jelly
always darkens it.
Put brandied tissue-paper over the top of each glass when cold and
firm, paste a thick paper over it, and keep in a dry place.