_Oranges or Lemons, for Puddings, &c._
When you squeeze the fruits, throw the outside in water without the
pulp. Let them remain in the same a fortnight, adding no more. Boil them
therein till tender; strain it from them, and when they are tolerably
dry, throw them into any old jar of candy, you may have remaining from
old sweetmeats; or if you have none, boil a small quantity of syrup of
common loaf sugar and water, and put over them. In a week or ten days
boil them gently in it till they look clear, and that they may be
covered with it in the jar. You may cut each half of the fruit in two,
and they will occupy small space.
_To preserve Gooseberries._
Before they become too large, let them be gathered; and take care not to
cut them in taking off the stalks and buds. Fill wide mouthed bottles;
put the corks loosely in, and set the bottles up to the neck in water in
a boiler. When the fruit looks scalded, take them out; and when
perfectly cold, cork close, and rosin the top. Dig a trench in a part of
the garden least used, sufficiently deep for all the bottles to stand,
and the earth be thrown over, to cover them a foot and a half. When a
frost comes on, a little fresh litter from the stable will prevent the
ground from hardening, so that the fruit cannot be dug up. Or, scald as
above; when cold, fill the bottles with cold water; cork them, and keep
them in a damp, or dry place: they will not be spoiled.
_Another way._
In the size and preparation as above. When done, have boiling water
ready, either in a boiler or large kettle, and into it put as much rock
alum as will, when dissolved, harden the water, which you will taste by
a _little_ roughness: if there be too much it will spoil the fruit. Put
as many gooseberries into a large sieve as will lie at the bottom
without covering one another. Hold the sieve in the water till the fruit
begins to look scalded on the outside: then turn them gently out of the
sieve on a cloth on the dresser: cover them with another cloth, and put
some more to be scalded; and so on till all shall be finished. Observe
not to put one quantity on another, or they will become too soft. The
next day pick out any bad or broken ones, bottle the rest, and fill up
the bottles with the alum water in which they were scalded: which must
be kept in the bottles; for if left in the kettle, or in a glazed pan,
it will spoil. Stop them close.
_Note._ The water must boil all the time the process is carrying on.
Gooseberries, done this way, make as fine tarts as fresh off the trees.
_Another way._
In dry weather pick the gooseberries that are full grown, but not ripe:
top and tail them, and put into open mouthed bottles. Gently cork them
with new velvet corks; put them in the oven when the bread is drawn, and
let them stand till shrunk a quarter part: take them out of the oven,
and immediately beat the corks in tight: cut off the tops, and rosin
down close. Set them in a dry place; and if well secured from air they
will keep the year round.
If gathered in the damp, or the gooseberries’ skins are the least cut in
taking off the stalks and buds, they will mould.
Currants and damsons may be done the same.
_To keep Currants._
The bottles being perfectly clean and dry, let the currants be cut from
the large stalks with the smallest bit of stalk to each, that, the fruit
not being wounded, no moisture may be among them. It is necessary to
gather them when the weather is quite dry; and if the servant can be
depended upon, it is best to cut them under the trees, and let them drop
gently into the bottles.
Stop up the bottles with cork and rosin, and put them into the trench in
the garden with the neck downwards. Sticks should be placed opposite to
where each sort of fruit begins.
_Note._ The directions for gooseberries in case of frost.
Cherries and damsons keep in the same way.
Currants may be scalded, and kept with or without sugar, as directed for
gooseberries.
_To keep Codlins for several months._
Gather codlins at Midsummer of a middling size: put them into an earthen
pan: pour boiling water over them, and cover the pan with
cabbage-leaves. Keep them by the fire till they would peel, but do not
peel them; then pour the water off till both are quite cold. Place the
codlins then in a stonejar with a smallish mouth, and pour on them the
water that scalded them. Cover the pot with bladder wetted, and tied
very close, and then over it coarse paper tied again.
It is best to keep them in small jars, such as will be used at once when
opened.
_To keep Damsons for winter Pies._
Put them in small stonejars, or wide mouthed bottles: set them up to
their necks in a boiler of cold water, and lighting a fire under, scald
them. Next day, when perfectly cold, fill up with spring water. Cover
them.
_Another way._
Boil one third as much sugar as fruit with it, over a slow fire, till
the juice adheres to the fruit, and forms a jam. Keep it in small jars
in a dry place. If too sweet, mix with it some of the fruit that is done
without sugar.
_Another way._
Choose steep pots if you can get them, which are of equal size top and
bottom (they should hold eight or nine pounds): put the fruit in about a
quarter up, then strew in a quarter of the sugar, then another quantity
of fruit, and so till all of both are in. The proportion of sugar is to
be three pounds to nine pounds of fruit. Set the jars in the oven, and
bake the fruit quite through. When cold, put a piece of clean scraped
stick into the middle of the jar, and let the upper part stand above the
top; then pour melted mutton suet over the top, full half an inch thick,
having previously covered the fruit with white paper. Keep the jars in a
cold dry place, and use the suet as a cover, which you will draw up by
the stick; minding to leave a little forked branch to it to prevent its
slipping out.
_Observations on Sweetmeats._
Sweetmeats should be kept in a very dry place. Unless they have a very
small proportion of sugar, a warm one does not hurt; but when not
properly boiled, that is, long enough, but not quick, heat makes them
ferment, and damp causes them to grow mouldy. They should be looked at
two or three times in the first two months, that they may be gently
boiled again, if not likely to keep.
It is necessary to observe, that sugar being boiled more or less,
constitutes the chief art of the confectioner; and those who are not
practised in this knowledge, and only preserve in a plain way for family
use, are not aware that, in two or three minutes, a syrup over the fire
will pass from one gradation to another, called, by the confectioners,
degrees of boiling, of which there are six, and those subdivided. But I
am not versed in the minutia; and only make the observation to guard
against under boiling, which prevents sweetmeats from keeping; and quick
boiling and long, which brings them to candy.
Attention, without much practice, will enable a person to do any of the
following sorts of sweetmeats, &c. and they are as much as is wanted in
a private family; and the higher articles of preserved fruits may be
bought at less expense than made.
A pan should be kept for the purpose of preserving, of double blocktin.
A bow handle opposite the straight one, for safety, will do very well;
and, if put by nicely cleaned, in a dry place, when done with, will last
for several years. Those of copper or brass are improper, as the tinning
wears out by the scraping of the sweetmeat ladle. There is a new sort of
iron, with a strong tinning, which promises to wear long. Sieves and
spoons should be kept likewise for sweet things.
_To clarify Sugar._
Break as much as required in large lumps, and put a pound to half a pint
of water, in a bowl, and it will dissolve better than when broken small.
Set it over the fire, and the well whipt white of an egg: let it boil
up, and, when ready to run over, pour a little cold water in it to give
it a check; but when it rises a second time, take it off the fire, and
set it by in the pan for a quarter of an hour: during which time the
foulness will sink to the bottom, and leave a black scum on the top;
which take off gently with a skimmer, and pour the syrup into a vessel
very quickly from the sediment.
_To dry Cherries, with Sugar._
Stone six pounds of Kentish; put them into a preservingpan, with two
pounds of loaf sugar pounded and strewed among them: simmer till they
begin to shrivel, then strain them from the juice; lay them on a hot
hearth, or in an oven, when either are cool enough to dry without baking
them.
The same syrup will do another six pounds of fruit.
_To dry Cherries without Sugar._
Stone and set them over the fire in the preservingpan: let them simmer
in their own liquor, and shake them in the pan. Put them by in China
common dishes. Next day give them another scald, and put them, when
cold, on sieves to dry, in an oven of at tempered heat as above. Twice
heating, an hour each time, will do them.
Put them in a box, with a paper between each layer.
_Excellent Sweetmeats for Tarts, when Fruit is plentiful._
Divide two pounds of apricots when just ripe, and take out and break the
stones. Put the kernels without their skins to the fruit: add to it
three pounds of green gage plums, and two pounds and a half of lump
sugar. Simmer until the fruit be a clear jam. The sugar should be broken
in large pieces, and just dipped in water, and added to the fruit over a
slow fire. Observe that it does not boil, and skim it well. If the sugar
be clarified it will make the jam better.
Put it into small pots; in which, all sweetmeats keep best.
_Currantjelly, red or black._
Strip the fruit, and in a stonejar stew them in a saucepan of water, or
by boiling it on the hot hearth; strain off the liquor, and to every
pint weigh a pound of loaf sugar. Put the latter in large lumps into it,
in a stone or China vessel, till nearly dissolved; then put it in a
preservingpan. Simmer and skim as necessary. When it will jelly on
plate, put it in small jars or glasses.
_Raspberry Jam._
Weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar. Put the former into a
preservingpan; boil and break it; stir constantly, and let it boil very
quickly. When most of the juice is wasted, add the sugar, and simmer to
a fine jam.
This way the jam is greatly superior in colour and flavour to that which
is made by putting the sugar in at first.
_Raspberry Jam another way._
Put the fruit in a jar into a kettle of water, or on a hot hearth, till
the juice will run from it; then take away a quarter of a pint from
every pound of fruit. Boil and bruise it half an hour, then put in the
weight of the fruit in sugar, and, adding the same quantity of
currantjuice, boil it to a strong jelly.
The raspberry juice will serve to put into brandy; or may be boiled,
with its weight in sugar, for making the jelly for raspberry ice or
cream.
_Raspberry jelly, for Ices or Creams._
Do the fruit as directed for currantjelly, and use in the same
proportion of sugar and liquor.
_Raspberry Cakes._
Pick out any bad raspberries that are among the fruit: weigh and boil
what quantity you please; and when mashed, and the liquor is wasted, put
to it sugar the weight of the fruit you first put into the pan. Mix it
well _off_ the fire, until perfectly dissolved; then put it on China
plates, and dry it in the sun. As soon as the top part dries, cut with
the cover of a cannister into small cakes, turn them on fresh plates,
and, when dry, put them in boxes with layers of paper.
_Apricot Cheese._
Weigh an equal quantity of pared fruit and sugar: wet the latter a very
little, and let it boil quickly, or the colour will be spoiled: blanch
the kernels, and add to it. Twenty or thirty minutes will boil it. Put
it in small pots or cups half filled.
_Apricots or Peaches in Brandy._
Wipe, weigh, and pick the fruit, and have ready a quarter of the weight
of fine sugar in fine powder. Put the fruit into an icepot that shuts
very close: throw the sugar over it, and then cover the fruit with
brandy. Between the top and cover of the pot, put a piece of double cap
paper. Set the pot into a saucepan of water till the brandy be as hot as
you can possibly bear to put your finger in, but must not boil. Put the
fruit into a jar, and pour the brandy on it. When cold, put a bladder
over, and tie it down tight.
_Cherries in Brandy._
Weigh the finest morellas, having cut off half the stalk: prick them
with a new needle, and drop them into a jar or widemouthed bottle. Pound
three quarters the weight of sugar or white candy: strew over, fill up
with brandy, and tie a bladder over.
_To prepare Oranges to put into Orange Puddings._
Put twelve Seville oranges in water, and change them three days. Boil
them in the least water till tender: scoop out the pulp, and pick out
the kernels; then, in a marble mortar, beat the oranges, then the pulp
separately; and, after, both together. To every pound put a pound and a
half of sugar, pounded and sifted, and beat to a paste. Keep it in small
gallipots, and cover with white paper dipped in brandy.
_To dry Apricots in half._
Pare thin and halve four pounds of apricots, weighing them after: put
them in a dish, and strew among them three pounds of sugar in the finest
powder. When it melts, set the fruit over a stove to do very gently. As
each piece becomes tender, take it out and put it into a China bowl.
When all are done, and the boiling heat a little abated, pour the syrup
over them. In a day or two remove the syrup, leaving only a little in
each half. In a day or two more turn them; and so continue daily till
quite dry, in the sun or a warm place. Keep in boxes with layers of
paper.
_To preserve Apricots in Jelly._
Pare the fruit _very_ thin, and stone it. Weigh an equal quantity of
sugar in fine powder and strew over it. Next day boil very gently till
they are clear: move them into a bowl, and pour the liquor over. The
following day pour the liquor to a quart of codlin liquor, made by
boiling and straining, and a pound of fine sugar: let it boil quickly
till it will jelly: put the fruit into it, and give one boil; and having
skimmed well, put into small pots.
_Applejelly for the above, or any sort of Sweetmeats._
Let apples be pared, quartered, and cored: put them into a stewpan with
as much water as will cover them: boil as fast as possible. When the
fruit is all in a mash, add a quart of water: boil half an hour more,
and run through a jellybag.
If in summer, codlins are best: in September, golden rennets or winter
pippins.
_To preserve green Apricots._
Lay vine or apricot leaves at the bottom of your pan, then fruit, and so
alternately till full, the upper layer being thick with leaves; then
fill with spring water, and cover down, that no steam may come out. Set
the pan at a distance from the fire, that in four or five hours they may
be only soft, but not cracked. Make a thin syrup of some of the water,
and drain the fruit. When both are cold, put the fruit into the pan and
the syrup to it; put the pan at a proper distance on the fire till the
apricots green, but on no account boil or crack: remove them very
carefully into a pan with the syrup for two or three days, then pour off
as much of it as will be necessary, and boil with more sugar to make a
rich syrup, and put a little sliced ginger into it. When cold, and the
thin syrup has all been drained from the fruit, pour the thick over it.
_To preserve Strawberries whole._
Get the finest scarlets before they are too ripe, with their stalks kept
on; lay them separately on a China dish; beat and sift twice their
weight of doubly refined sugar over them; then bruise a few ripe
strawberries, with their weight of doubly refined sugar, in a China
bason, cover it close, and set it in a saucepan of boiling water which
will just hold it till the juice comes out and becomes thick; strain it
through muslin into a sweetmeat pan, boil it up and skim it. When cold,
put in the strawberries, set them over a stove till milk warm, then take
the pan off till they are cold, set them on again, and let them become
rather hotter, and so for several times till they become clear, but the
hottest degree must not come to a boil. When cold, put them into
glasses, and pour the syrup over.
_Another way._
Take equal weight of the fruit and doubly refined sugar, lay the former
in a large dish, and sprinkle half the sugar in fine powder over; give a
gentle shake to the dish, that the sugar may touch the under side of the
fruit. Next day make a thin syrup with the remainder of the sugar, and
instead of water, allow one pint of red currant juice to every three
pounds of strawberries; in this simmer them until sufficiently jellied.
Choose the largest scarlets, or others, when not dead ripe.
_Cherry Jam._
To twelve pounds of Kentish or Duke cherries, when ripe, weigh one pound
of sugar; break the stones of part and blanch them; then put them to the
fruits and sugar, and boil all gently till the jam come clear from the
pan. Pour it into China plates to come up dry to table. Keep in boxes
with white paper between.
_Orange Marmalade._
Rasp the oranges, cut out the pulp, then boil the rinds very tender, and
beat fine in a marble mortar. Boil three pounds of loaf sugar in a pint
of water, skim it, and add a pound of the rind; boil fast till the syrup
is very thick, but stir it carefully; then put a pint of the pulp and
juice, the seeds having been removed, and a pint of apple liquor; boil
all gently until well jellied, which it will be in about half an hour.
Put it into small pots.
Lemon marmalade do in the same way.
_Quince Marmalade._
Pare and quarter quinces, weigh an equal quantity of sugar; to four
pounds of the latter put a quart of water, boil, and skim, and keep
ready against four pounds of quinces are tolerably tender by the
following mode: lay them into a stonejar, with a teacup of water at the
bottom, and pack them with a little sugar strewed between; cover the jar
close, and set it on a stove or cool oven, and let them soften till the
colour become red, then pour the fruit, syrup, and a quart of quince
juice into a preserving pan, and boil all together till the marmalade be
completed, breaking the lumps of fruit with the preserving ladle.
This fruit is so hard, that if it be not done as above, it requires a
great deal of time.
N. B. Stewing quinces in a jar, and then squeezing them through a
cheesecloth, is the best method of obtaining the juice to add as above.
_To dry Cherries; the best way._
To every five pounds of cherries stoned, weigh one of sugar doubly
refined. Put the fruit into the preservingpan with _very_ little water,
both made scalding hot; take the fruit immediately out and dry them, put
them into the pan again, strewing the sugar between each layer of
cherries; let it stand to melt, then set the pan on the fire, and make
it scalding hot as before; take it off, and repeat this thrice with the
sugar. Drain them from the syrup, and lay them singly to dry on dishes,
in the sun or on a stove. When dry, put them into a sieve, dip it into a
pan of cold water, and draw it instantly out again, and pour them on a
fine soft cloth; dry them, and set them once more in the hot sun, or on
a stove. Keep them in a box, with layers of white paper, in a dry place.
This way is the best to give plumpness to the fruit, as well as colour
and flavour.
_Observe._ When any sweetmeats are directed to be dried in the sun or in
a stove, it will be best in private families, where there is not a
regular stove for the purpose, to place them in the sun on flag stones,
which reflect the heat, and place a garden glass over them to keep
insects off: or if put in an oven, to take care not to let it be too
warm, and watch that they do properly and slowly.
_Gooseberry Jam, for Tarts._
Put twelve pounds of the red hairy gooseberries, when ripe and gathered
in dry weather, into a preservingpan with a pint of currantjuice, drawn
as for jelly; let them boil pretty quick, and beat them with the spoon;
when they begin to break, put to them six pounds of pure white Lisbon
sugar, and simmer to a jam. It requires long boiling, or will not keep;
but is an excellent and reasonable thing for tarts or puffs. Look at it
in two or three days, and if the syrup and fruit separate, the whole
must be boiled longer. Be careful it does not burn to the bottom.
_Another._
Gather your gooseberries (the clear white or green sort) when ripe; top
and tail, and weigh them: a pound to three quarters of a pound of fine
sugar, and half a pint of water; boil and skim the sugar and water, then
put the fruit and boil gently till clear; then break and put into small
pots.
_White Gooseberry Jam._
Gather the finest white gooseberries, or green if you choose, when just
ripe; top and tail them. To each pound put three quarters of a pound of
fine sugar, and half a pint of water. Boil and clarify the sugar in the
water as directed under that article, then add the fruit; simmer gently
till clear, then break it, and in a few minutes put the jam into small
pots.
_Barberries for Tartlets._
Pick barberries, that have no stones, from the stalks, and to every
pound weigh three quarters of a pound of lump sugar. Put the fruit into
a stonejar, and either set it on a hot hearth or in a saucepan of water,
and let them simmer very slowly till soft; put them and the sugar into a
preservingpan, and boil them gently fifteen minutes.
Use no metal but silver.
_Barberry Drops._
The black tops must be cut off, then roast the fruit before the fire,
till soft enough to pulp with a silver spoon through a sieve into a
China bason; then set the bason on a saucepan of water, the top of which
will just fit it, or on a hot hearth, and stir it till it grows thick.
When cold, put to every pint one pound and a half of sugar, the finest
doubly refined, pounded and sifted through a lawn sieve, which must be
covered with fine linen, to prevent its wasting while sifting. Beat the
sugar and juice together three hours and a half if a large quantity, but
two and a half for less: then drop it on sheets of white thick paper,
the size of the drops sold in the shops.
Some fruit is not so sour, and then less sugar is necessary. To know if
there be enough, mix till well incorporated, and then drop: if it runs,
there is not enough sugar, and if it is too much it will be rough. A dry
room will suffice to dry them. No metal must touch the juice but the
point of a knife, just to take the drop off the end of the wooden spoon,
and then as little as possible.
_Ginger Drops, a good Stomachic._
Beat two ounces of fresh candied orange in a mortar, with a little
sugar, to a paste; then mix one ounce of powder of white ginger with one
pound of loaf sugar. Wet the sugar with a little water, and boil
altogether to candy, and drop it on paper the size of mint drops.
_Peppermint Drops._
Pound and sift four ounces of doubly refined sugar, beat it with the
whites of two eggs till perfectly smooth; then add sixty drops of oil of
peppermint, beat it well, and drop on white paper, and dry at a distance
from the fire.
_Lemon Drops._
Grate three large lemons, with a large piece of doubly refined sugar;
then scrape the sugar into a plate, add half a teaspoonful of flour, mix
well, and beat it into a light paste with the white of an egg. Drop it
upon white paper, and put them into a moderate oven on a tinplate.
_A beautiful Red, to stain Jellies, Ices or Cakes._
Boil fifteen grains of cochineal in the finest powder, with a drachm and
a half of cream of tartar, in half a pint of water, very slowly, half an
hour. Add in boiling a bit of alum the size of a pea. Or use beetroot
sliced, and some liquor poured over.
For white, use almonds, finely powdered, with a little drop of water; or
use cream.
For yellow, yelks of eggs, or a bit of saffron steeped in the liquor and
squeezed.
For green, pound spinach leaves or beet leaves, express the juice, and
boil in a teacupful in a saucepan of water, to take off the rawness.
_Damson Cheese._
Bake or boil the fruit in a stonejar, in a saucepan of water, or on a
hot hearth. Pour off some of the juice, and to every two pounds of
fruit, weigh half a pound of sugar. Set the fruit over a fire in the
pan, let it boil quickly till it begins to look dry; take out the stones
and add the sugar, stir it well in, and simmer two hours slowly, then
boil it quickly half an hour, till the sides of the pan candy; pour the
jam then into potting pans or dishes, about an inch thick, so that it
may cut firm. If the skins be disliked, then the juice is not to be
taken out; but after the first process, the fruit is to be pulped
through a very coarse sieve with the juice, and managed as above. The
stones are to be cracked, or some of them, and the kernels boiled in the
jam. All the juice may be left in and boiled to evaporate, but do not
add the sugar until it has done so. The above looks well in shapes.
_Biscuit of Fruit._
To the pulp of any scalded fruit, put equal weight of sugar sifted, beat
it for two hours, then put it into little white paper forms: dry in a
cool oven, turn the next day, and in two or three days box them.
_Magnum Bonum Plums. Excellent as a Sweetmeat, or in Tarts, though very
bad to eat raw._
Prick them with a needle, to prevent bursting, simmer them very gently
in a thin syrup; put them in a China bowl, and when cold pour it over.
Let them lie three days; then make a syrup of three pounds of sugar to
five of fruit, with no more water than hangs to large lumps of the sugar
dipped quickly, and instantly brought out. Boil the plums in this fresh
syrup, after draining the first from them. Do them very gently till they
are clear, and the syrup adheres to them. Put them one by one into small
pots, and pour the liquor over. Those you may like to dry, keep a little
of the syrup for, longer in the pan, and boil it quickly, then give the
fruit one more warm: drain, and put them to dry on plates, in a cool
oven. These plums are apt to ferment, if not boiled in two syrups; the
former will sweeten pies, but will have too much acid to keep. You may
reserve part of it, and add a little sugar, to do those that are to dry,
for they will not require to be so sweet, as if kept wet, and will eat
very nicely if only boiled as much as those. Do not break them. One
parcel may be done after another, and save much sugar.
_To preserve Grapes in Brandy._
Put some close bunches, when ripe, but not over ready, into a jar: strew
over them half their weight in white sugarcandy pounded: prick each
grape once with a needle; fill up with brandy, and tie close. They look
beautifully in a dessert.
_Gooseberry Hops._
Of the largest green walnut kind, take and cut the bud end in four
quarters, leaving the stalk end whole: pick out the seeds, and with a
strong needle and thread, fasten five or six together, by running the
thread through the bottoms, till they are of the size of a hop. Lay
vineleaves at the bottom of a tin preservingpan: cover them with the
hops, then a layer of leaves, and so on; lay a good many on the top,
then fill the pan with water. Stop it so close down that no steam can
get out: set it by a slow fire till scalding hot; then take it off till
cold, and do so till on opening while cold, the gooseberries are of a
good green. Then drain them on sieves, and make a thin syrup of a pound
of sugar, to a pint of water, boil, and skim it well; when half cold,
put in the fruit, next day give it one boil; do this thrice. If the hops
are to be dried, which way they eat best, and look well, they may be set
to dry in a week: but if to be kept wet, make a syrup in the above
proportions, adding a slice of ginger in boiling; when skimmed and
clear, give the gooseberries one boil, and when cold, pour it over them.
If the first syrup be found too sour, a little sugar may be added and
boiled in it, before the hops that are for drying, have their last boil.
The extra syrup will serve for pies, or go towards other sweetmeats.
_A Carmel Cover for Sweetmeats._
Dissolve eight ounces of double refined sugar in three or four spoonfuls
of water, and three or four drops of lemonjuice; then put it into a
copper untinned skellet; when it boils to be thick, dip the handle of a
spoon in it, and put that into a pintbason of water, squeeze the sugar
from the spoon into it, and so on till you have all the sugar. Take a
bit out of the water, and if it snaps, and is brittle when cold, it is
done enough; but only let it be three parts cold, when pour the water
from the sugar, and having a copper form oiled well, run the sugar on
it, in the manner of a maze, and when cold you may put it on the dish it
is to cover; but if on trial the sugar is not brittle, pour off the
water, and return it into the skellet and boil it again. It should look
thick like treacle, but of a bright light gold colour.
It is a most elegant cover.
_Transparent Marmalade._
Cut the palest Seville oranges in quarters, take the pulp out, and put
it in a bason, pick out the seeds and skins. Let the outsides soak in
water with a little salt all night, then boil them in a good quantity of
spring water till tender; drain and cut them in very thin slices, and
put them to the pulp; and to every pound, a pound and a half of double
refined sugar beaten fine; boil them together twenty minutes, but be
careful not to break the slices. If not quite clear, simmer five or six
minutes longer. It must be stirred all the time very gently.
When cold, put it into glasses.
_To preserve Oranges or Lemons in Jelly._
Cut a hole in the stalk part, the size of a shilling, and with a blunt
small knife scrape out the pulp quite clear without cutting the rind.
Tie each separately in muslin, and lay them in spring water two days,
changing twice a day; in the last boil them tender on a slow fire.
Observe that there is enough at first to allow for wasting, as they must
be covered to the last. To every pound of orange, weigh two pounds of
double refined sugar, and one pint of water; boil the two latter
together with the juice of the orange to a syrup, and clarify it, skim
well, and let it stand to be cold; then boil the fruit in the syrup half
an hour; if not clear, do this daily till they are done.
Pare and core some green pippins, and boil in water till it tastes
strong of them; do not break them, only gently press them with the back
of a spoon. Strain the water through a jellybag till quite clear; then
to every pint put a pound of double refined sugar, the peel and juice of
a lemon, and boil to a strong syrup. Drain off the syrup from the fruit,
and turning the whole upwards in the jar, pour the applejelly over it.
The bits cut out must go through the same process with the fruit. Cover
with brandy paper.
_Orange Chips._
Cut oranges in halves, squeeze the juice through a sieve; soak the peel
in water, next day boil in the same till tender, drain them, and slice
the peels, put them to the juice, weigh as much sugar, and put all
together into a broad earthen dish, and put over the fire at a moderate
distance, often stirring till the chips candy; then set them in a cool
room to dry. They will not be so under three weeks.
_Orange Cakes._
Cut Seville oranges in pieces, take out the seeds and skins, save the
juice, and add to the meat of the fruit, after having beaten it quite
fine in a mortar, in the proportion of a pound to a pound and a half of
loaf sugar finely beaten first. When the paste is finely mixed, make it
into small cakes, and dry them on China plates in a hot room, and turn
them daily. Do not let them be too dry.
They are excellent for gouty stomachs, or for travellers.
The peels of China oranges, soaked a night, then drained and boiled up
in a syrup till enough to be tender, answer for common puddings
extremely well, and are of no value; whereas Seville are usually dear,
and sometimes cannot be had.
_To preserve Morella Cherries._
Gather them when full ripe, and perfectly dry, take off the stalks, and
prick them with a new needle to prevent bursting. Weigh to every pound,
one and a half of sugar, beat part, and strew over them; let them lie
all night; dissolve the rest in half a pint of currantjuice, set it over
the fire, and put in the cherries, and sugar that hangs about them, give
them a scald, then put them in a China bowl; next day give them another
scald, then take them carefully out, boil the syrup till it is thick,
and pour it on them; look at it in a day or two, and if too thin, boil
it more, but gently.
_To keep Lemonjuice._
Buy the fruit when cheap, keep it in a cool place until the colour
becomes very yellow: cut the peel off some, and roll them under your
hand to make them part with the juice more readily; others you may leave
unpared for grating, when the pulp shall be taken out and dried. Squeeze
the juice into a China bason, then strain it through some linen which
will not permit the least pulp to pass. Have ready some half and quarter
ounce phials perfectly dry: fill them with the juice so near to the top
as only to admit half a teaspoonful of sweet oil into each; or a little
more, if for larger bottles. Cork the bottles, and set them upright in a
cool place.
When you want lemonjuice, open such a sized bottle as you shall use in
two or three days, wind some clean cotton round a skewer, and dipping it
in, the oil will be attracted; and when all shall be removed, the juice
will be as fine as when first bottled.
The peels hang up till dry, then keep them from the dust.
_Ice Waters._
Rub some fine sugar on lemon, or orange, to give the colour and flavour;
then squeeze the juice of either on its respective peel: add water and
sugar, to make a fine sherbet, and strain it before it be put into the
icepot. If orange, the greater proportion should be of the China juice,
and only a little of Seville, and a small bit of the peel grated by the
sugar.
_Currant, or Raspberry water Ice._
The juice of these, or any other sort of fruit, being gained by
squeezing, sweetened and mixed with water, will be ready for icing.
_Ice Creams._
Mix the juice of the fruits with as much sugar as will be wanted, before
you add cream, which should be of a middling richness. Under the article
of FRUITS is given a mode of preparing juice for ice.
_Brown Bread Ice._
Grate as fine as possible stale brown bread, soak a small proportion in
cream two or three hours, sweeten and ice it.
_To make the Ice._
Get a few pounds of ice, break it almost to powder, throw a large
handful and a half of salt among it. You must prepare it in a part of
the house where as little of the warm air comes as you can possibly
contrive. The ice and salt being in a bucket, put your cream into an ice
pot, and cover it; immerse it in the ice, and draw that round the pot,
so as to touch every possible part. In a few minutes put a spatula or
spoon in, and stir it well, removing the parts that ice round the edges
to the centre. If the icecream or water be in a form, shut the bottom
close, and move the whole in the ice, as you cannot use a spoon to that
without danger of waste.
_Note._ When any fluid tends towards cold, the moving it quickly
accelerates the cold; and likewise, when any fluid is tending to heat,
stirring it will facilitate its boiling.
_Icing for Tarts._
Beat the yelk of an egg and some melted butter well together, wash the
tarts with a feather, and sift sugar over as you put them in the oven.
Or beat white of egg: wash the paste, and sift white sugar.
_Icing for Cakes._
For a large one, beat and sift eight ounces of fine sugar, put into a
mortar with four spoonfuls of rose water, and the whites of two eggs
beaten and strained, whisk it well, and when the cake is almost cold,
dip a feather in the icing, and cover the cake well; set it in the oven
to harden, but do not let it stay to discolour. Put the cake in a dry
place.