pint; lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful.
QUINCE OR APPLE CUSTARDS.
Add to a pint of apple-juice prepared as for jelly, a tablespoonful of
strained lemon-juice, and from four to six ounces of sugar according to
the acidity of the fruit; stir these boiling, quickly, and in small
portions, to eight well-beaten eggs, and thicken the custard in a jug
placed in a pan of boiling water, in the usual manner. A larger
proportion of lemon-juice and a high flavouring of a rind can be given
when approved. For quince custards, which if well made are excellent,
observe the same directions as for the apple, but omit the lemon-juice.
As we have before observed, all custards are much finer when made with
the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must be increased nearly
half, when this is done.
Prepared apple-juice (see page 456), 1 pint; lemon-juice, 1
tablespoonful; sugar, 4 to 6 oz.; eggs, 8. Quince custards, same
proportions, but no lemon-juice.
_Obs._—In making lemon-creams the apple-juice may be substituted very
advantageously for water, without varying the receipt in other respects.
THE DUKE’S CUSTARD.
Drain well from their juice, and then roll in dry sifted sugar, as many
fine brandied Morella cherries as will cover thickly the bottom of the
dish in which this is to be sent to table; arrange them in it, and pour
over them from a pint to a pint and a half of rich cold boiled custard;
garnish the edge with macaroons or Naples biscuits, or pile upon the
custard some solid rose-coloured whipped cream, highly flavoured with
brandy.
Brandied Morella cherries, 1/2 to whole pint; boiled custard, from 1 to
1-1/2 pint; thick cream, 1/2 pint or more; brandy, 1 to 2 glassesful;
sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; juice of 1/2 large lemon; prepared cochineal, or
carmine, 20 to 40 drops.
CHOCOLATE CUSTARDS.
Dissolve gently by the side of the fire an ounce and a half of the best
chocolate in rather more than a wineglassful of water, and then boil it
until it is perfectly smooth; mix with it a pint of milk well flavoured
with lemon peel or vanilla, add two ounces of fine sugar, and when the
whole boils, stir it to five well-beaten eggs which have been strained.
Put the custard into a jar or jug, set it into a pan of boiling water,
and stir it without ceasing until it is thick. Do not put it into
glasses or a dish until it is nearly or quite cold. These, as well as
all other custards, are infinitely finer when made with the yolks only
of the eggs, of which the number must then be increased. Two ounces of
chocolate, a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, two or three ounces of
sugar, and eight yolks of eggs, will make very superior custards of this
kind.
Rasped chocolate, 1-1/2 oz.; water, 1 _large_ wineglassful: 5 to 8
minutes. New milk, 1 pint; eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz. Or: chocolate, 2 oz.;
water, 1/4 pint; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2-1/2 to 3 oz.; cream, 1/2
pint; yolks of eggs, 8.
_Obs._—Either of these may be moulded by dissolving from half to three
quarters of an ounce of isinglass in the milk. The proportion of
chocolate can be increased to the taste.
COMMON BAKED CUSTARD.
Mix a quart of new milk with eight well beaten eggs, strain the mixture
through a fine sieve, and sweeten it with from five to eight ounces of
sugar, according to the taste; add a small pinch of salt, and pour the
custard into a deep dish with or without a lining or rim of paste, grate
nutmeg or over the top, and bake it in a _very_ slow oven from twenty to
thirty minutes, or longer, should it not be firm in the centre. A
custard, if well made, and properly baked, will be quite smooth when
cut, without the honey-combed appearance which a hot oven gives; and
there will be no whey in the dish.
New milk, 1 quart; eggs, 8; sugar, 5 to 8 oz.; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful;
nutmeg or lemon-grate: baked, slow oven, 30 to 40 minutes, or more.
A FINER BAKED CUSTARD.
Boil together gently, for five minutes, a pint and a half of new milk, a
few grains of salt, the very thin rind of a lemon, and six ounces of
loaf sugar; stir these boiling, but very gradually, to the well-beaten
yolks of ten fresh eggs, and the whites of four; strain the mixture, and
add to it half a pint of good cream; let it cool, and then flavour it
with a few spoonsful of brandy, or a little ratifia; finish and bake it
by the directions given for the common custard above; or pour it into
small well-buttered cups, and bake it very slowly from ten to twelve
minutes.
FRENCH CUSTARDS OR CREAMS.
To a quart of new milk allow the yolks of twelve fresh eggs, but to
equal parts of milk and cream of ten only. From six to eight ounces of
sugar will sweeten the custard sufficiently for general taste, but more
can be added at will; boil this for a few minutes gently in the milk
with a grain or two of salt, and stir the mixture briskly to the eggs,
as soon as it is taken from the fire. Butter a round deep dish, pour in
the custard, and place it in a pan of water at the point of boiling,
taking care that it shall not reach to within an inch of the edge; let
it _just simmer_, and no more, from an hour to an hour and a half: when
quite firm in the middle, it will be done. A very few live embers should
be kept on the lid of the stewpan to prevent the steam falling from it
into the custard. When none is at hand of a form to allow of this, it is
better to use a charcoal fire, and to lay an oven-leaf, or tin, over the
pan, and the embers in the centre. The small French furnace, shown in
Chapter XXIII., is exceedingly convenient for preparations of this kind;
and there is always more or less of difficulty in keeping a coal fire
entirely free from smoke for any length of time. Serve the custard cold,
with chopped macaroons, or ratafias, laid thickly round the edge so as
to form a border an inch deep. A few petals of fresh orange-blossoms
infused in the milk will give it a most agreeable flavour, very superior
to that derived from the distilled water. Half a pod of vanilla, cut in
short lengths, and well bruised, may be used instead of either; but the
milk should then stand some time by the fire before or after it boils,
and it must be strained through a muslin before it is added to the eggs,
as the small seed of the vanilla would probably pass through a sieve.
The French make their custards, which they call _crêmes_, also in small
china cups, for each of which they allow one egg-yolk, and then add
sufficient milk or cream to nearly fill them; they sweeten and give them
a delicate flavour; and simmer them in a pan of water until they are
set.
New milk, 1 quart; yolks of eggs, 12; sugar, 6 to 8 oz. Or: new milk, 1
pint; cream, 1 pint; yolks of eggs, 10; flavouring of orange-flowers or
vanilla: simmered in water-bath, 1 to 1-1/2 hour.
GERMAN PUFFS.
Pound to a perfectly smooth paste two ounces of Jordan almonds and six
bitter ones; mix with them, by slow degrees, the yolks of six, and the
whites of three eggs. Dissolve in half a pint of rich cream, four ounces
of fresh butter, and two of fine sugar; pour these hot to the eggs,
stirring them briskly together, and when the mixture has become cool,
flavour it with half a glass of brandy, of cuirasseau, or of
orange-flower water; or, in lieu of either, with a little lemon-brandy.
Butter some cups thickly, and strew into them a few slices of candied
citron, or orange-rind; pour in the mixture, and bake the puffs twenty
minutes, in a slow oven.
Jordan almonds, 2 oz.; bitter almonds, 6; eggs, whites, 3—yolks, 6;
cream, 1/2 pint; butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 2 oz.; brandy, cuirasseau, or
orange-flower water, 1/2 wineglassful (or little lemon-brandy): 20
minutes, slow oven.
A MERINGUE OF RHUBARB, OR GREEN GOOSEBERRIES.
Weigh a pound of delicate young rhubarb-stems after they have been
carefully pared and cut into short lengths; mix eight ounces of pounded
sugar with them, and stew them gently until they form a smooth pulp;
then quicken the boiling, and stir them often until they are reduced to
a tolerably dry marmalade. When the fruit has reached this point turn it
from the pan and let it stand until it is quite cold. Separate the
whites of four fresh eggs carefully from the yolks, and whisk them to a
froth sufficiently solid to remain standing in points when it is dropped
from the whisk or fork. Common cooks sometimes fail entirely in very
light preparations from not properly understanding this extremely easy
process, which requires nothing beyond plenty of space in the bowl or
basin used, and regular but not violent whisking until the eggs whiten,
and gradually assume the appearance of snow. No drop of liquid must
remain at the bottom of the basin, and the mass must be firm enough to
stand up, as has been said, in points. When in this state, mingle with
it four heaped tablespoonsful of dry sifted sugar, stir these gently
together, and when they are quite mixed, lay them lightly over the
rhubarb in a rather deep tart-dish. Place the _meringue_ in a moderate
oven and bake it for about half an hour, but ascertain, before it is
served, that the centre is quite firm. The crust formed by the white of
egg and sugar, which is in fact the _meringue_, should be of a light
equal brown, and crisp quite through. If placed in an exceedingly slow
oven, the underpart of it will remain half liquid, and give an
uninviting appearance to the fruit when it is served. Unless the rhubarb
should be very acid, six ounces of sugar will be sufficient to sweeten
it for many tastes. It is a great improvement to this dish to diminish
the proportion of fruit, and to pour some thick boiled custard upon it
before the _meringue_ is laid on.
_Obs._—When gooseberries are substituted for spring-fruit, a pint and a
half will be sufficient for this preparation, or even a smaller
proportion when only one of quite moderate size is required. In the
early part of their season they will be more acid even than the rhubarb,
and rather more sugar must be allowed for them.
CREAMED SPRING FRUIT, OR RHUBARB TRIFLE.
Boil down the rhubarb with seven ounces of sugar, after having prepared
it as above, and when it is perfectly cold, but not long before it is
sent to table, pour over it about half a pint of rich boiled custard
also quite cold, then heap on this some well drained, but
slightly-sweetened whipped cream, which should be good and very fresh
when it is whisked, but not _heavily thick_, or it will be less easily
converted into a snow-froth. The rhubarb will be very nice if served
with the whipped cream only on it.
MERINGUE OF PEARS, OR OTHER FRUIT.
Fill a deep tart-dish nearly to the brim with stewed pears, and let them
be something more than half covered with their juice. Whisk to a solid
froth the whites of five eggs; stir to them five tablespoonsful of dry
sifted sugar, and lay them lightly and equally over the fruit; put the
_meringue_ immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it half an hour.
Cherries, bullaces, and damsons, with various other kinds of plums,
first either stewed as for compôtes (see page 457), or baked with sugar,
as for winter use, answer as well as pears for this dish; which may,
likewise, be made of apples, peaches, apricots, or common plums boiled
down quite to a marmalade, with sufficient sugar to sweeten them
moderately: the skins and stones of these last should be removed, but a
few of the blanched kernels may be added to the fruit.
Dish filled with stewed pears or other fruit; whites of eggs, 5; pounded
sugar, 5 tablespoonsful: baked, 1/2 hour.
AN APPLE CHARLOTTE, OR CHARLOTTE DE POMMES.
[Illustration]
Butter a plain mould (a round or square cake-tin will answer the purpose
quite well), and line it entirely with thin slices of the crumb of a
stale loaf, cut so as to fit into it with great exactness, and dipped
into clarified butter. When this is done, fill the mould to the brim
with apple marmalade; cover the top with slices of bread dipped in
butter, and on these place a dish, a large plate, or the cover of a
French stewpan with a weight upon it. Send the Charlotte to a brisk oven
for three quarters of an hour should it be small, and for an hour if
large. Turn it out with great care, and serve it hot. If baked in a
slack oven it will not take a proper degree of colour, and it will be
liable to break in the dishing. The strips of bread must of course join
very perfectly, for if any spaces were left between them the syrup of
the fruit would escape and destroy the good appearance of the dish:
should there not have been sufficient marmalade prepared to fill the
mould entirely, a jar of quince or apricot jam, or of preserved cherries
even, may be added to it with advantage. The butter should be well
drained from the Charlotte before it is taken from the mould; and sugar
may be sifted thickly over it before it is served, or it may be covered
with any kind of clear red jelly.
A more elegant, and we think an easier mode of forming the crust, is to
line the mould with small rounds of bread stamped out with a plain cake
or paste cutter, then dipped in butter, and placed with the edges
sufficiently one over the other to hold the fruit securely: the strips
of bread are sometimes arranged in the same way.
3/4 to 1 hour, quick oven.
MARMALADE FOR THE CHARLOTTE.
Weigh three pounds of good boiling apples, after they have been pared,
cored, and quartered; put them into a stewpan with six ounces of fresh
butter, three quarters of a pound of sugar beaten to powder, three
quarters of a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, and the strained juice of
a lemon; let these stew over a gentle fire, until they form a perfectly
smooth and _dry_ marmalade; keep them often stirred that they may not
burn, and let them cool before they are put into the crust. This
quantity is for a moderate-sized Charlotte.
A CHARLOTTE À LA PARISIENNE.
This dish is sometimes called in England a Vienna cake; and it is known
here also, we believe, as a _Gâteaux de Bordeaux_. Cut horizontally into
half-inch slices a Savoy or sponge cake, and cover each slice with a
different kind of preserve; replace them in their original form, and
spread equally over the cake an icing made with the whites of three
eggs, and four ounces of the finest pounded sugar; sift more sugar over
it in every part, and put it into a very gentle oven to dry. The eggs
should be whisked to snow before they are used. One kind of preserve,
instead of several, can be used for this dish; and a rice or a pound
cake may supply the place of the Savoy or sponge biscuit.
A GERTRUDE À LA CREME.
Slice a plain pound or rice cake as for the _Charlotte à la Parisienne_,
and take a round out of the centre of each slice with a tin-cutter
before the preserve is laid on; replace the whole in its original form,
ice the outside with a green or rose coloured icing at pleasure, and dry
it in a gentle oven; or decorate it instead with leaves of almond paste,
fastening them to it with white of egg. Just before it is sent to table,
fill it with well-drained whipped cream, flavoured as for a trifle or in
any other way to the taste.
POMMES AU BEURRE.
(_Buttered apples. Excellent._)
Pare six or eight fine apples of a firm but good boiling kind, and core
without piercing them through, or dividing them; fill the cavities with
fresh butter, put a quarter of a pound more, cut small, into a stewpan
just large enough to contain the apples in a single layer, place them
closely together on it, and stew them as softly as _possible_, turning
them occasionally until they are almost sufficiently tender to serve;
then strew upon them as much sifted sugar as will sweeten the dish
highly, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon; shake these well in and
upon the fruit, and stew it for a few minutes longer. Lift it out,
arrange it in a hot dish, put into each apple as much warm apricot jam
as it will contain, and lay a small quantity on the top; pour the syrup
from the pan round, but not on the fruit, and serve it immediately.
Apples, 6 to 8; fresh butter, 4 oz., just simmered till tender. Sugar, 6
to 8 oz.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful: 5 minutes. Apricot jam as needed.
_Obs._—Particular care must be taken to keep the apples entire: they
should rather steam in a gentle heat than boil. It is impossible to
specify the precise time which will render them sufficiently tender, as
this must depend greatly on the time of year and the sort of fruit. If
the stewpan were placed in a very slow oven, the more regular heat of it
would perhaps be better in its effect than the stewing.
SUÉDOISE OF PEACHES.
[Illustration:
Suédoise of Peaches.
]
Pare and divide four fine, ripe peaches, and let them _just simmer_ from
five to eight minutes in a syrup made with the third of a pint of water
and three ounces of very white sugar, boiled together for fifteen
minutes; lift them out carefully into a deep dish, and pour about half
the syrup over them, and into the remaining half throw a couple of
pounds more of quite ripe peaches, and boil them to a perfectly smooth
dry pulp or marmalade, with as much additional sugar in fine powder, as
the nature of the fruit may require. Lift the other peaches from the
syrup, and reduce it by very quick boiling, more than half. Spread a
deep layer of the marmalade in a dish, arrange the peaches symmetrically
round it, and fill all the spaces between them with the marmalade; place
the half of a blanched peach-kernel in each, pour the reduced syrup
equally over the surface, and form a border round the dish with Italian
macaroons, or, in lieu of these, with candied citron, sliced very thin,
and cut into leaves with a small paste-cutter. A little lemon-juice
brings out the flavour of all preparations of peaches, and may be added
with good effect to this. When the fruit is scarce, the marmalade (which
ought to be very white) may be made in part, or entirely, with
nonsuches. The better to preserve their form, the peaches are sometimes
merely wiped, and then boiled tolerably tender in the syrup before they
are pared or split. Half a pint of water, and from five to six ounces of
sugar must then be allowed for them. If any of those used for the
marmalade should not be quite ripe, it will be better to pass it through
a sieve, when partially done, to prevent its being lumpy.
Large ripe peaches, pared and halved, 4: simmered in syrup, 5 to 8
minutes. Marmalade: peaches (or nonsuches) 2 lbs.; sugar, 1/2 to 3/4
lb.: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more. Strained lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful.
Citron, or macaroons, as needed.
Peaches, if boiled whole in syrup, 15 to 18 minutes.
_Obs._—The number of peaches can, at pleasure, be increased to six, and
three or four of the halves can be piled above the others in the centre
of the dish.
AROCĒ DOCĒ (OR SWEET RICE, À LA PORTUGAISE.)
Wash thoroughly, then drain, and wipe dry in a soft cloth, half a pound
of the best Carolina rice. Pour to it three pints of new milk, and when
it has gently stewed for half an hour, add eight ounces of sugar broken
into small lumps, let it boil until it is dry and tender, and when it is
nearly so, stir to it two ounces of blanched almonds, chopped[163] or
pounded. Turn the rice when done into shallow dishes or soup plates, and
shake it until the surface is smooth; then sift over it rather thickly
through a muslin, some freshly-powdered cinnamon, which will give it the
appearance of a baked pudding. Serve it cold. It will remain good for
several days. This is quite the best sweet preparation of rice that we
have ever eaten, and it is a very favourite dish in Portugal, whence the
receipt was derived. One or two bitter almonds, pounded with the sweet
ones, might a little improve its flavour, and a few spoonsful of rich
cream could occasionally be substituted for a small portion of the milk,
but it should not be added until the preparation is three parts done.
Footnote 163:
The Portuguese use them not very finely chopped.
Rice, 8 oz.; milk, 3 pints: 30 minutes. Sugar, 8 oz.: 1 hour or more.
Pounded almonds, 2 oz.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful. _Obs._—The rice must be
frequently stirred while boiling, particularly after it begins to
thicken; and it will be better not to add the entire quantity of milk at
first, as from a quarter to half a pint less will sometimes prove
sufficient. The grain should be thoroughly tender, but dry and unbroken.
COCOA-NUT DOCE.
This is merely fine fresh lightly grated cocoa-nut stewed until tender
in syrup, made with one pound of sugar to half a pint of water (or more
to the taste) and flavoured with orange-flower water.
BUTTERED CHERRIES. (CERISES AU BEURRE.)
Cut four ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf into dice, and fry them a
light brown in an ounce and a half of fresh butter; take them up, pour
the butter from the pan, and put in another ounce and a half; to this
add a pound of Kentish cherries without their stalks, and when they are
quite warmed through, strew in amongst them four ounces of sugar, and
keep the whole well turned over a moderate fire; pour in gradually half
a pint of hot water, and in fifteen minutes the cherries will be tender.
Lay the fried bread into a hot dish, pour the cherries on it, and serve
them directly.
Bread, 4 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz. Cherries, 1 lb.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10
minutes. Sugar, 4 oz.; water, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—Black-heart cherries may be used for this dish instead of Kentish
ones: it is an improvement to stone the fruit. We think our readers
generally would prefer to the above Morella cherries stewed from five to
seven minutes, in syrup (made by boiling five ounces of sugar in half
pint of water, for a quarter of an hour), and poured hot on the fried
bread. Two pounds of the fruit, when it is stoned, will be required for
a full-sized dish.
SWEET MACARONI.
Drop gently into a pint and a half of new milk, when it is boiling fast,
four ounces of fine pipe macaroni, add a grain or two of salt, and some
thin strips of lemon or orange rind: cinnamon can be substituted for
these when preferred. Simmer the macaroni by a gentle fire until it is
tolerably tender, then add from two to three ounces of sugar broken
small, and boil it till the pipes are soft, and swollen to their full
size; drain, and arrange it in a hot dish; stir the milk quickly to the
well-beaten yolks of three large, or of four small eggs, shake them
round briskly over the fire until they thicken, pour them over the
macaroni and serve it immediately; or instead of the eggs, heat and
sweeten some very rich cream, pour it on the drained macaroni, and dust
finely-powdered cinnamon over through a muslin, or strew it thickly with
crushed macaroons. For variety, cover it with the German sauce of page
403, milled to a light froth.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; pipe macaroni, 4 oz.; strips of lemon-rind or
cinnamon; sugar, 2 to 3 oz.: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more.
BERMUDA WITCHES.
Slice equally some rice, pound, or Savoy cake, not more than the sixth
of an inch thick; take off the brown edges, and spread one half of it
with Guava jelly, or, if more convenient, with fine strawberry,
raspberry, or currant jelly of the best quality (see Norman receipt,
478); on this strew thickly some fresh cocoa-nut grated small and
lightly; press over it the remainder of the cake, and trim the whole
into good form; divide the slices if large, pile them slopingly in the
centre of a dish upon a very white napkin folded flat, and garnish or
intersperse them with small sprigs of myrtle. For very young people a
French roll or two, and good currant jelly, red or white, will supply a
wholesome and inexpensive dish.
NESSELRÔDE PUDDING.
We give Monsieur Carême’s own receipt for this favourite and fashionable
dish, not having ourselves had a good opportunity of proving it; but as
it originated with him he is the best authority for it. It may be varied
in many ways, which the taste or ingenuity of the reader will easily
suggest. Boil forty fine sound Spanish chestnuts quite tender in plenty
of water, take off the husks, and pound the chestnuts perfectly with a
few spoonsful of syrup; rub them through a fine sieve, and mix them in a
basin with a pint of syrup made with a pound of sugar clarified, and
highly-flavoured with a pod of vanilla, a pint of rich cream, and the
yolks of twelve eggs; thicken the mixture like a boiled custard; when it
is cold put it into a freezing pot, adding a glass of maraschino, and
make it set as an iced cream; then add an ounce of preserved citron cut
in dice, two ounces of currants, and as many fine raisins stoned and
divided (all of which should be soaked from the day before in some
maraschino with a little sugar); the whole thus mingled, add a plateful
of whipped cream, and the whites of three eggs prepared as for Italian
meringue. When the pudding is perfectly frozen, mould it in a pewter
mould of the form of a pine-apple, and place it again in the ice till
wanted to serve. Preserved cherries may be substituted for the raisins
and currants.
Chestnuts, 40; syrup, 1 pint some spoonsful; vanilla, 1 pod; cream, 1
pint; yolk of eggs, 12; maraschino, 1 glassful; citron, 1 oz.; currants,
2 oz.; raisins, 2 oz.; whipped cream, 1 plateful; whites of eggs beaten
to snow, 3.
_Obs._—As Monsieur Carême directs the eggs for his Italian meringues to
be prepared as follows, he probably intends that they should be mixed
with the syrup before they are added to the pudding. Boil together half
a pound of the finest sugar, and half a pint of water, until they begin
to be very thick; then, with a wooden spoon, work the sugar against the
side of the pan till it whitens; leave it to cool a little, work it
again, and then with a whisk mingle with it the eggs whipped to a very
firm froth, which ought to produce a preparation very white, smooth, and
brilliant.
STEWED FIGS. (A VERY NICE COMPOTE.)
Put into an enamelled or a copper stewpan, four ounces of refined sugar,
the very thin rind of a large and fresh lemon, and a pint of cold water.
When the sugar is dissolved, add a pound of fine Turkey figs, and place
the stewpan on a trivet above a moderate fire, or upon a stove, where
they can heat and swell slowly, and be very gently stewed. When they are
quite tender, add to them two glassesful of port wine, and the strained
juice of the lemon; arrange them in a glass dish, and serve them cold.
From two hours to two and a half of the gentlest stewing will generally
be sufficient to render the figs fit for table. Orange-juice and rind
can be used for them at pleasure, instead of the lemon; two or three
bitter almonds maybe boiled in the syrup to give it flavour, and any
wine can be used for it which may be preferred, but port is best.
This _compôte_ may be served in the second course hot, in a rice-border;
or cold for rice-crust.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIV.
=Preserves.=
[Illustration:
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE USE AND VALUE OF PRESERVED FRUIT.
]
SIMPLE well-made preserves—especially those of our early summer
fruits—are most valuable domestic stores, as they will retain through
the entire year or longer,[164] their peculiarly grateful and agreeable
flavour, and supply many wholesome and refreshing varieties of diet
through the winter months and spring. They are, indeed, as conducive to
health—when not cloyingly sweet or taken in excess—as good vegetables
are; and they are inexpensive luxuries (if as _luxuries_ they must be
regarded), now sugar is so very reasonable in price. By many families
they are considered too much as mere superfluities of the table, and
when served only—as they so often are—combined with rich pastry-crust or
cream, or converted into ices and other costly preparations, may justly
be viewed solely in that light. To be eaten in perfection they should be
sufficiently boiled down to remain free from mould or fermentation, and
yet not so much reduced as to be dry or hard; they should not afterwards
be subjected to the heat of the oven,[165] but served with some plain
pudding, or light dish of bread, rice, ribbon-macaroni, soujee,
semoulina, &c. When intended for tartlets or creams, or fruit-sauces,
for which see Chapter XX., they should be somewhat less boiled, and be
made with a larger proportion of sugar.
Footnote 164:
We have had them _excellent_ at the end of three or four years, but
they were made from the produce of a _home garden_, as freshly
gathered, and carefully selected as it could be. Some clear
apricot-marmalade, some strawberry-jelly, and some raspberry-jelly,
were amongst those which retained their full flavour and transparency
to the last. They were merely covered with two layers of thin writing
paper pressed closely on them, after being saturated with spirits of
wine.
Footnote 165:
For the manner of serving them in pastry without this, see “small
_vol-au-vents_ and tartlets,” Chap. XVIII.
Fruit steamed in bottles is now vended and consumed in very large
quantities in this country, but it is not wholesome, as it produces
often—probably from the amount of fixed air which it contains—violent
derangement of the system. When the bottles are filled with water it is
less apt to disagree with the eaters, but it is never so really
wholesome as preserves which are made with sugar. That which is baked
keeps remarkably well, and appears to be somewhat less objectionable
than that which is steamed.
The rich confectionary preparations called _wet preserves_ (fruits
preserved in syrup), which are principally adapted to formal desserts,
scarcely repay the cost and trouble of making them in private families,
unless they be _often_ required for table. They are in general
lusciously sweet, as they will only remain good with a large proportion
of sugar; and if there be no favourable place of storage for them they
soon spoil. When drained and well dried, they may much more easily be
kept uninjured. The general directions for them, which we append, and
the receipts for dried gooseberries, cherries, and apricots which we
have inserted here will be sufficient for the guidance of the reader who
may wish to attempt them.
[Illustration:
_Fourneau Economique_, or Portable French Furnace, with Stewpan and
Trivet.
No. 1. Portable French Furnace.—2. Depth at which the grating is
placed.—3. Stewpan.—4.
Trivet.
]
[Illustration:
Closed Furnace and Cover.
]
[Illustration:
Grating.
]
[Illustration:
Trevet.
]
The small portable French stove, or furnace, shown in the preceding
page, with the trivet and stewpan adapted to it, is exceedingly
convenient for all preparations which require either more than usual
attention, or a fire entirely free from smoke; as it can be placed on a
table in a clear light, and the heat can be regulated at pleasure. It
has been used for many of the preserves of which the receipts are given
in this chapter, as well as for various dishes contained in the body of
the work. There should always be a free current of air in the room in
which it stands when lighted, as charcoal or _braise_ (that is to say,
the live embers of large well-burned wood, drawn from an oven and shut
immediately into a closely-stopped iron or copper vessel to extinguish
them) is the only fuel suited to it. To kindle either of these, two or
three bits must be lighted in a common fire, and laid on the top of that
in the furnace, which should be evenly placed between the grating and
the brim, and then blown gently with the bellows until the whole is
alight: the door of the furnace must in the mean while be open, and
remain so, unless the heat should at any time be too fierce for the
preserves, when it must be closed for a few minutes, to moderate it. To
extinguish the fire altogether, the cover must be pressed closely on,
and the door be quite shut: the embers which remain will serve to
rekindle it easily, but before it is again lighted the grating must be
lifted out and all the ashes cleared away. It should be set by in a
place which is not damp. In a common grate a clear fire for preserving
may be made with coke, which is a degree less unwholesome than charcoal.
The enamelled stewpans which have now come into general use, are, from
the peculiar nicety of the composition with which they are lined, better
adapted than any others to pickling and preserving, as they may be used
without danger for acids; and red fruits when boiled in them retain the
brightness of their colour as well as if copper or bell-metal were used
for them. The form of the old-fashioned preserving-pan, made usually of
one or the other of these, is shown here; but it has not, we should say,
even the advantage of being of convenient shape; for the handles quickly
become heated, and the pan, in consequence, cannot always be
instantaneously raised from the fire when the contents threaten to
over-boil or to burn.
[Illustration:
Copper preserving-pan.
]
It is desirable to have three or four wooden spoons or spatulas, one
fine hair-sieve, at the least, one or two large squares of common
muslin, and one strainer or more of closer texture, kept exclusively for
preparations of fruit; for if used for other purposes, there is the
hazard, without great care, of their retaining some strong or coarse
flavour, which they would impart to the preserves. A sieve, for example,
used habitually for soup or gravy, should never, _on any account_, be
brought into use for any kind of confectionary, nor in making sweet
dishes, nor for straining eggs or milk for puddings, cakes, or bread.
Damp is the great enemy, not only of preserves and pickles, but of
numberless other household stores; yet, in many situations, it is
extremely difficult to exclude it. To keep them in a “_dry cool place_”
(words which occur so frequently both in this book, and in most others
on the same subject), is more easily directed than done. They remain, we
find, more entirely free from any danger of moulding, when covered with
a brandied paper only, and placed on the shelves of a tolerably dry
store-room, or in a chiffoneer (in which we have had them keep unchanged
for years). When the slightest fermentation is perceptible in syrup, it
should immediately be boiled for some minutes, and well skimmed; the
fruit taken from it should then be thrown in, and well scalded also, and
the whole, when done, should be turned into a very clean dry jar; this
kind of preserve should always be covered with one or two skins or with
parchment and thick paper when it is not secured from the air with
corks.
A FEW GENERAL RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING.
1. Let everything used for the purpose be delicately clean and _dry_;
bottles especially so.
2. Never place a preserving-pan _flat upon the fire_, as this will
render the preserve liable to _burn to_, as it is called; that is to
say, to adhere closely to the metal, and then to burn; it should rest
always on a trivet (that shown with the French furnace is very
convenient even for a common grate), or on the lowered bar of a kitchen
range when there is no regular preserving stove in a house.
3. After the sugar is added to them, stir the preserves gently at first,
and more quickly towards the end, without quitting them until they are
done: this precaution will always prevent the chance of their being
spoiled.
4. All preserves should be perfectly cleared from the scum as it rises.
5. Fruit which is to be preserved in syrup must first be blanched or
boiled gently, until it is sufficiently softened to absorb the sugar;
and a thin syrup must be poured on it at first, or it will shrivel
instead of remaining plump, and becoming clear. Thus, if its weight of
sugar is to be allowed, and boiled to a syrup with a pint of water to
the pound, only half the weight must be taken at first, and this must
not be boiled with the water more than fifteen or twenty minutes at the
commencement of the process; a part of the remaining sugar must be added
every time the syrup is reboiled, unless it should be otherwise directed
in the receipt.
6. To preserve both the true flavour and the colour of fruit in jams and
jellies, boil them rapidly until they are well reduced, _before_ the
sugar is added, and quickly afterwards, but do not allow them to become
so much thickened that the sugar will not dissolve in them easily, and
throw up its scum. In some seasons, the juice is so much richer than in
others, that this effect takes place almost before one is aware of it;
but the drop which adheres to the skimmer when it is held up, will show
the state it has reached.
7. Never use tin, iron, or pewter spoons, or skimmers, for preserves, as
they will convert the colour of red fruit into a dingy purple, and
impart, besides, a very unpleasant flavour.
8. When cheap jams or jellies are required, make them at once with
Lisbon sugar, but use that which is _well refined_ always, for preserves
in general; it is a false economy, as we have elsewhere observed, to
purchase an inferior kind, as there is great waste from it in the
quantity of scum which it throws up. The _best_ has been used for all
the receipts given here.
9. Let fruit for preserving be gathered always in perfectly dry weather,
and be free both from the morning and evening dew, and as much so as
possible from dust. When bottled, it must be steamed or baked during the
day on which it is gathered, or there will be a great loss from the
bursting of the bottles; and for jams and jellies it cannot be too soon
boiled down after it is taken from the trees.
TO EXTRACT THE JUICE OF PLUMS FOR JELLY.
Take the stalks from the fruit, and throw aside all that is not
perfectly sound: put it into very clean, large stone jars, and give part
of the harder kinds, such as bullaces and damson, a gash with a knife as
they are thrown in; do this especially in filling the upper part of the
jars. Tie one or two folds of thick paper over them, and set them for
the night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn four or five
hours; or cover them with bladder, instead of paper, place them in pans,
or in a copper[166] with water which will reach to quite two-thirds of
their height, and boil them gently from two to three hours, or until the
fruit is quite soft, and has yielded all the juice it will afford: this
last is the safer and better mode for jellies of delicate colour.
Footnote 166:
The fruit steams perfectly in this, if the cover be placed over.
TO WEIGH THE JUICE OF FRUIT.
Put a basin into one scale, and its weight into the other; add to this
last the weight which is required of the juice, and pour into the basin
as much as will balance the scales. It is always better to weigh than to
_measure_ the juice for preserving, as it can generally be done with
more exactness.
RHUBARB JAM.
The stalks of the rhubarb (or spring-fruit, as it is called) should be
taken for this preserve, which is a very good and useful one, while they
are fresh and young. Wipe them very clean, pare them quickly, weigh, and
cut them into half-inch lengths; to every pound add an equal weight of
good sugar in fine powder; mix them well together, let them remain for
ten minutes or a quarter of an hour to draw out the juice a little, then
turn them into a preserving-pan, let them heat rather slowly, but as
soon as the stalks are tender boil the preserve rapidly, stirring it
well for about half an hour. It will be of excellent flavour, and will
serve admirably for tarts.
A somewhat cheaper mode of making the jam is to stew it until tender in
its own juices, and then to boil it rapidly until it is tolerably dry,
to add to it only half its weight of sugar, and to give it from twenty
to thirty minutes boiling.
Spring fruit (rhubarb), 4 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: heated slowly, and when
tender, boiled quickly, 30 minutes.
GREEN GOOSEBERRY JELLY.
Wash some freshly gathered gooseberries very clean; after having taken
off the tops and stalks, then to each pound pour three-quarters of a
pint of spring water, and simmer them until they are well broken; turn
the whole into a jelly-bag or cloth, and let all the juice drain
through; weigh and boil it rapidly for fifteen minutes. Draw it from the
fire, and stir in it until entirely dissolved, an equal weight of good
sugar reduced to powder; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes
longer, or until it jellies strongly on the spoon or skimmer; clear it
perfectly from scum, and pour it into small jars, moulds, or glasses. It
ought to be very pale and transparent. The sugar may be added to the
juice at first, and the preserve boiled from twenty-five to thirty-five
minutes, but the colour will not then be so good. When the fruit
abounds, the juice may be drawn from it with very little water, as
directed for apples, page 523, when it will require much less boiling.
Gooseberries, 6 lbs.; water, 4 pints: 20 to 30 minutes. Juice boiled
quickly, 15 minutes; to each pound, 1 pound sugar: 15 to 20 minutes.
GREEN GOOSEBERRY JAM.
(_Firm and of good colour._)
Cut the stalks and tops from the fruit, weigh and bruise it slightly,
boil it for six or seven minutes, keeping it well turned during the
time, then to every three pounds of gooseberries add two and a half of
sugar beaten to powder, and boil the preserve quickly for three-quarters
of an hour. It must be constantly stirred, and carefully cleared from
scum. This makes a fine, firm, and refreshing preserve if the fruit be
rubbed through a sieve before the sugar is added. If well reduced
afterwards, it may be converted into a _gâteau_, or gooseberry-solid,
with three pounds of sugar, or even a smaller proportion. The preceding
jam will often turn in perfect form from the moulds or jars which
contain it; and if freed from the seeds, would be very excellent: it is
extremely good even made as above. For all preserves, the _reduction_,
or boiling down to a certain consistence, should take place principally
before the sugar is mingled with them; and this has the best effect when
added to the fruit and dissolved in it by degrees.
Green gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 6 to 7 minutes. Sugar, 5 lbs.; 3/4 hour.
TO DRY GREEN GOOSEBERRIES.
Take the finest green gooseberries, fully grown, and freshly gathered;
cut off the buds, split them across the tops half way down, and with the
small end of a tea or of an egg spoon, scoop out the seeds. Boil
together for fifteen minutes a pound and a half of the finest sugar, and
a pint of water; skim this syrup thoroughly and throw into it a pound of
the seeded gooseberries; simmer them from five to seven minutes, when
they ought to be clear and tender; when they are so, lift them out, and
throw as many more into the syrup; drain them a little when done, spread
them singly on dishes, and dry them _very_ gradually in a quite cool
stove or oven, or in a sunny window. They will keep well in the syrup,
and may be potted in it, and dried when wanted for use.
Green gooseberries without seeds, 2 lbs.; water, 1 pint; sugar, 1-1/2
lb.: boiled, 15 minutes. Gooseberries simmered, 5 to 7 minutes.
GREEN GOOSEBERRIES FOR TARTS.
Fill very clean, dry, wide-necked bottles with gooseberries gathered the
same day, and before they have attained their full growth. Cork them
lightly, wrap a little hay round each of them, and set them up to their
necks in a copper of cold water which should be brought very gradually
to boil. Let the fruit be gently simmered until it appears shrunken and
perfectly scalded; then take out the bottles, and with the contents of
one or two fill up the remainder, and use great care not to break the
fruit in doing this. When all are ready pour _scalding_ water into the
bottles and cover the gooseberries entirely with it, or they will become
mouldy at the top. Cork the bottles well immediately, and cover the
necks with melted resin; keep them in a cool place; and when the
gooseberries are used pour off the greater part of the water, and add
sugar as for the fresh fruit, of which they will have the flavour and
appearance; and they will be found more wholesome prepared in this
manner than if simply baked or steamed in the bottles.
RED GOOSEBERRY JAM.
The small rough red gooseberry, when fully ripe, is the best for this
preserve, which may, however, be made of the larger kinds. When the tops
and stalks have been taken carefully from the fruit, weigh, and boil it
quickly for three-quarters of an hour, keeping it well stirred; then for
six pounds of the gooseberries, add two and a half of good
roughly-powdered sugar; boil these together briskly, from twenty to
twenty-five minutes and stir the jam well from the bottom of the pan, as
it is liable to burn if this be neglected.
Small red gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 3/4 hour. Pounded sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.: 20
to 25 minutes.
VERY FINE GOOSEBERRY JAM.
Seed the fruit, which for this jam may be of the larger kind of rough
red gooseberry: those which are smooth skinned are generally of far
inferior flavour. Add the pulp which has been scooped from the prepared
fruit to some whole gooseberries, and stir them over a moderate fire for
some minutes to extract the juice; strain and weigh this; pour two
pounds of it to four of the seeded gooseberries, boil them rather gently
for twenty-five minutes, add fourteen ounces of good pounded sugar to
each pound of fruit and juice, and when it is dissolved boil the
preserve from twelve to fifteen minutes longer, and skim it well during
the time.
Seeded gooseberries, 4 lbs.; juice of gooseberries, 2 lbs.: 25 minutes.
Sugar, 5-1/4 lbs. (or 14 oz. to each pound of fruit and juice): 12 to 15
minutes.
JELLY OF RIPE GOOSEBERRIES.
(_Excellent._)
Take the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of any kind of
well-flavoured ripe red gooseberries, and keep them stirred gently over
a clear fire until they have yielded all their juice, which should then
be poured off without pressing the fruit, and passed first through a
fine sieve, and afterwards through a double muslin-strainer, or a
jelly-bag. Next weigh it, and to every three pounds add one of white
currant juice, which has previously been prepared in the same way; boil
these quickly for a quarter of an hour, then draw them from the fire and
stir to them half their weight of good sugar; when this is dissolved,
boil the jelly for six minutes longer, skim it thoroughly, and pour it
into jars or moulds. If a very large quantity be made, a few minutes of
additional boiling must be given to it _before_ the sugar is added.
Juice of red gooseberries, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15
minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 6 minutes.
_Obs._—The same proportion of red currant juice, mixed with that of the
gooseberries, makes an exceedingly nice jelly.
UNMIXED GOOSEBERRY JELLY.
Boil rapidly for ten minutes four pounds of the juice of red
gooseberries, prepared as in the preceding receipt; take it from the
fire, and stir in it until dissolved three pounds of sugar beaten to
powder; boil it again for five minutes, keeping it constantly stirred
and thoroughly skimmed.
Juice of red gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 minutes.
GOOSEBERRY PASTE.
Press through a sieve the gooseberries from which the juice has been
taken for jelly, without having been drained very closely from them;
weigh and then boil the pulp for upwards of an hour and a quarter, or
until it forms a dry paste in the pan; stir to it, off the fire, six
ounces of good pounded sugar for each pound of the fruit, and when this
is nearly dissolved boil the preserve from twenty to twenty-five
minutes, keeping it stirred without cessation, as it will be liable to
burn should this be neglected. Put it into moulds, or shallow pans, and
turn it out when wanted for table.
Pulp of gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20
to 25 minutes.
TO DRY RIPE GOOSEBERRIES WITH SUGAR.
Cut the tops, but not the stalks, from some ripe gooseberries of the
largest size, either red or green ones, and after having taken out the
seeds as directed for unripe gooseberries, boil the fruit until clear
and tender, in syrup made with a pound of sugar to the pint of water,
boiled until rather thick.
Seeded gooseberries, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; water, 1 pint: boiled to
syrup. Gooseberries, simmered 8 to 12 minutes, or more.
_Obs._—Large ripe gooseberries freed from the blossoms, and put into
cold syrup in which cherries or any other fruit has been boiled for
drying, then heated very gradually, and kept at the point of boiling for
a few minutes before they are set by for a couple of days, answer
extremely well as a dry preserve. On the third day the syrup should be
drained from them, simmered, skimmed, and poured on them the instant it
is taken from the fire; in forty-eight hours after, they may be drained
from it and laid singly upon plates or dishes, and placed in a gentle
stove.
JAM OF KENTISH OR FLEMISH CHERRIES.
This is a very agreeable preserve when it is made as we shall direct;
but if long boiled with a large proportion of sugar, as it frequently
is, both the bright colour and the pleasant flavour of the cherries will
be destroyed.
Stone, and then weigh the fruit; heat it rather slowly that the juice
may be well drawn out before it begins to boil, and stew the cherries
until they are tolerably tender, then boil them quickly, keeping them
well turned and stirred from the bottom of the pan, for three-quarters
of an hour or somewhat longer should there still remain a large quantity
of juice. Draw the pan from the fire, and stir in gradually half a pound
of sugar for each pound of cherries. An ounce or two more may
occasionally be required when the fruit is more than usually acid, and
also when a quite sweet preserve is liked. When the sugar is dissolved
continue the boiling rapidly for about twenty minutes longer; clear off
all the scum as it appears, and keep the jam stirred _well_ and
constantly, but not quickly, to prevent its adhering to the bottom of
the preserving-pan.
Stoned Kentish or Flemish cherries, 6 lbs.: without sugar, 1 hour or
rather more. Sugar roughly powdered, 3 lbs.: (or 3-1/2 lbs.) About 20
minutes quick boiling.
_Obs._—Heat the fruit and boil it gently until it is quite tender,
turning it often, and pressing it down into the juice; then quicken the
boiling to evaporate the juice before the sugar is added. Cherries which
are bruised will not make good preserve: they always remain tough.
TO DRY CHERRIES WITH SUGAR.
(_A quick and easy method._)
Stone some fine, sound, Kentish or Flemish cherries; put them into a
preserving-pan, with six ounces of sugar reduced to powder, to each
pound of the fruit; set them over a moderate fire, and simmer them
gently for nearly or quite twenty minutes; let them remain in the syrup
until they are a little cooled, then turn them into a sieve, and before
they are cold lay them singly on dishes, and dry them very gradually, as
directed for other fruits. When the cherries are quite ripe the stones
may generally be drawn out with the stalks, by pressing the fruit gently
at the same time; but when this method fails, they must be extracted
with a new quill, cut round at the end: those of the _very_
short-stalked, turnip-shaped cherry, which abounds, and is remarkably
fine in many parts of Normandy, and which we have occasionally met with
here, though it is not, we believe, very abundant in our markets, are
easily removed with a large pin, on the point of which the stone may be
caught at the stalk end, just opposite the seam of the fruit, and drawn
out at the top, leaving the cherry apparently entire.
DRIED CHERRIES.
(_Superior Receipt._)
To each pound of cherries weighed after they are stoned, add eight
ounces of good sugar, and boil them very softly for ten minutes: pour
them into a large bowl or pan, and leave them for two days in the syrup;
then simmer them again for ten minutes, and set them by in it for two or
three days; drain them slightly, and dry them very slowly, as directed
in the previous receipts. Keep them in jars or tin canisters, when done.
These cherries are generally preferred to such as are dried with a
larger proportion of sugar; but when the taste is in favour of the
latter, from twelve to sixteen ounces can be allowed to the pound of
fruit, which may then be potted in the syrup and dried at any time;
though we think the flavour of the cherries is better preserved when
this is done within a fortnight of their being boiled.
Cherries, stoned, 8 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Left two or three
days. Boiled again, 10 minutes; left two days; drained and dried.
CHERRIES DRIED WITHOUT SUGAR.
These are often more pleasant and refreshing to invalids and travellers
than a sweetened confection of the fruit, their flavour and agreeable
acidity being well preserved when they are simply spread on dishes or
hamper-lids, and slowly dried.[167] Throw aside the bruised and decayed
fruit, and arrange the remainder singly, and with the stalks uppermost
on the dishes. The Kentish cherries are best for the purpose, but
morellas also answer for it excellently. The former are sometimes
stoned, and simmered until quite tender in their own juice, before they
are dried; but this is scarcely an improvement on the more usual method
of leaving them entire.
Footnote 167:
The dishes on which they are laid should be changed daily.
TO DRY MORELLA CHERRIES.
Take off the stalks but do not stone the fruit; weigh and add to it an
equal quantity of the best sugar reduced quite to powder, strew it over
the cherries and let them stand for half an hour; then turn them gently
into a preserving-pan, and simmer them softly from five to seven
minutes. Drain them from the syrup, and dry them like the Kentish
cherries. They make a _very fine_ confection.
COMMON CHERRY CHEESE.
Stone the fruit, or if this trouble be objected to, bruise and boil it
without, until it is sufficiently tender to press through a sieve, which
it will be in from twenty to thirty minutes. Weigh the pulp in this
case, and boil it quickly to a dry paste, then stir to it six ounces of
sugar for the pound of fruit, and when this is dissolved, place the pan
again over, but not _upon_, a brisk fire, and stir the preserve without
ceasing, until it is so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched;
then press it immediately into small moulds or pans, and turn it from
them when wanted for table. When the cherries have been stoned, a good
common preserve may be made of them without passing them through a
sieve, with the addition of five ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit,
which must be boiled very dry both before and after it is added.
Kentish or Flemish cherries without stoning: 20 to 30 minutes. Passed
through a sieve. To each pound of pulp (first boiled dry), 6 oz. sugar.
To each pound of cherries stoned and boiled to a dry paste, 5 oz. sugar.
CHERRY PASTE. (FRENCH.)
Stone the cherries; boil them gently in their own juice for thirty
minutes; press the whole through a sieve; reduce it to a very dry paste;
then take it from the fire, and weigh it; boil an equal proportion of
sugar to the candying point; mix the fruit with it; and stir the paste,
without intermission, over a moderate fire, until it is again so dry as
to form a ball round the spoon, and to quit the preserving-pan entirely;
press it quickly into small moulds, and when it is cold, paper, and
store it like other preserves.
STRAWBERRY JAM.
Strip the stalks from some fine scarlet strawberries, weigh, and boil
them for thirty-five minutes, keeping them very constantly stirred;
throw in eight ounces of good sugar, beaten small, to the pound of
fruit; mix them well off the fire, then boil the preserve again quickly
for twenty-five minutes.
Strawberries, 6 lbs.: 35 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 25 minutes.
_Obs._—We do not think it needful to give directions with each separate
receipt for skimming the preserve with care, and keeping it constantly
stirred, but neither should in any case be neglected.
STRAWBERRY-JELLY.
_A very Superior Preserve._ (_New Receipt._)
The original directions for this delicious jelly, published in the
earlier editions of this work, were the result of perfectly successful
trials made in the summer of their insertion; but, after much additional
experience, we find that the receipt may be better adapted to our
varying seasons, which so much affect the quality of our fruit, and
rendered more certain in its results by some alterations; we therefore
give it anew, recommending it strongly for trial, especially to such of
our readers as can command from their own gardens ample supplies of
strawberries in their best and freshest state. Like all fruit intended
for preserving, they should be gathered in dry weather, after the
morning dew has quite passed off them, and be used the same day. Strip
away the stalks, and put the strawberries into an enamelled stewpan if
at hand, and place it very high over a clear fire, that the juice may be
drawn from them gently; turn them over with a silver or wooden spoon
from time to time, and when the juice has flowed from them abundantly,
let them simmer until they shrink, but be sure to take them from the
fire before the juice becomes thick or pulpy from over-boiling. Thirty
minutes, or sometimes even longer, over a _very_ slow fire, will not be
too much to extract it from them. Turn them into a new, well-scalded,
but _dry_ sieve over a clean pan, and let them remain until the juice
ceases to drop from them; strain it then through a muslin strainer,
weigh it in a basin, of which the weight must first be taken, and boil
it quickly in a clean preserving-pan from fifteen to twenty minutes, and
stir it often during the time: then take it from the fire, and throw in
by degrees, for every pound of juice, fourteen ounces of the best sugar
coarsely pounded, stirring each portion until it is dissolved. Place the
pan again over the fire, and boil the jelly—still quickly—for about a
quarter of an hour. Occasionally it may need a rather longer time than
this, and sometimes less: the exact degree can only be ascertained by a
little experience, in consequence of the juice of some varieties of the
fruit being so much thinner than that of others. The preserve should
jelly strongly on the skimmer, and fall in a mass from it before it is
poured out; but if boiled beyond this point it will be spoiled. If made
with richly-flavoured strawberries, and carefully managed, it will be
very brilliant in colour, and in flavour really equal if not superior to
guava jelly; while it will retain all the delicious odour of the fruit.
No skimmer or other utensil of tin should be used in making it; and an
enamelled preserving-pan is preferable to any other for all red fruit.
It becomes very firm often after it is stored, when it appears scarcely
set in the first instance; it is, however, desirable that it should
jelly at once.
Fruit kept hot to draw out the juice, 1/2 hour or longer. Boiled quickly
without sugar, 15 to 20 minutes. To each pound 14 oz. of sugar: 12 to 15
minutes.
TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES OR RASPBERRIES, FOR CREAMS OR ICES, WITHOUT
BOILING.
Let the fruit be gathered in the middle of a warm day, in very dry
weather; strip it from the stalks directly, weigh it, bruise it
_slightly_, turn it into a bowl or deep pan, and mix with it an equal
weight of fine dry sifted sugar, and put immediately into small,
wide-necked bottles; cork these firmly without delay, and tie bladder
over the tops. Keep them in a cool place, or the fruit will ferment. The
mixture should be stirred softly, and only just sufficiently to blend
the sugar and the fruit. The bottles must be perfectly dry, and the
bladders, after having been cleaned in the usual way, and allowed to
become nearly so, should be moistened with a little spirit on the side
which is to be next to the cork. Unless these precautions be observed,
there will be some danger of the whole being spoiled.
Equal weight of fruit and sugar.
RASPBERRY JAM.
This is a very favourite English preserve, and one of the most easily
made that can be. The fruit for it should be ripe and perfectly sound;
and as it soon decays or becomes mouldy after it is gathered, it should
be fresh from the bushes when it is used. That which grows in the shade
has less flavour than the fruit which receives the full warmth of the
sun.
Excellent jam for common family use may be made as follows:— Bruise
gently with the back of a wooden spoon, six pounds of ripe and
freshly-gathered raspberries, and boil them over a brisk fire for
twenty-five minutes; stir to them half their weight of good sugar,
roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved, boil the preserve quickly
for ten minutes, keeping it well stirred and skimmed.
Raspberries, 6 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.
VERY RICH RASPBERRY JAM OR MARMALADE.
No. 1.—Weigh the finest fruit that can be procured, and bruise it with
the back of a wooden spoon after it is put into the preserving-pan. Boil
it gently, keeping it well turned, for about five minutes, then stir to
it gradually nearly or quite its weight of dry pounded sugar, and
continue the boiling rather rapidly for a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes, and be careful to remove all the scum as it rises. The preserve
will be clear, smooth, and very thick when it is sufficiently boiled,
and should then be taken from the pan without delay, as it will very
quickly _set_.
No. 2.—Draw gently from the smallest of the raspberries from half to a
whole pound of juice, and boil down in this three pounds of the fruit,
after it has been crushed with a spoon as usual. In ten minutes, if the
fruit be quite ripe, the sugar may be added. Three pounds to four of the
raspberries and their juice, will make a quite sweet preserve. It should
be gradually stirred in until dissolved, and not be allowed to boil
during the time. Ten or fifteen minutes will then suffice generally to
bring it to the proper degree for jellying firmly.
No. 1.—Fine raspberries: 5 minutes. Sugar, nearly or quite equal weight:
15 to 20 minutes.
No. 2.—Raspberry-juice, 1 lb.; ripe raspberries, 3 lbs. (or 4): 10
minutes. To each pound of fruit and juice, sugar 3/4 lb.: 10 to 15
minutes.
_Obs._—All fruit jams are much improved by the addition of a certain
portion of juice to the fruit which is boiled down; they then partake
more of the nature of jelly.
GOOD RED OR WHITE RASPBERRY JAM.
Boil quickly, for twenty minutes, four pounds of either red or white
sound ripe raspberries in a pound and a half of currant-juice of the
same colour; take the pan from the fire, stir in three pounds of sugar,
and when it is dissolved, place the pan again over the fire, and
continue the boiling for ten minutes longer: keep the preserve well
skimmed and stirred from the beginning.
Raspberries, 4 lbs.; currant-juice, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3
lbs.: 10 minutes.
RASPBERRY JELLY FOR FLAVOURING CREAMS.
Take the stalks from some quite ripe and freshly-gathered raspberries,
stir them over the fire until they render their juice freely, then
strain and weigh it; or press it from them through a cloth, and then
strain it clear; in either case boil it for five minutes after it is
weighed, and for each pound stir in a pound and a quarter of good sugar
reduced quite to powder, sifted, and made very hot; boil the preserve
quickly for five minutes longer, and skim it clean. The jelly thus made
will sufficiently sweeten the creams without any additional sugar.
Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 5 minutes. Sugar, made hot, 5 lbs.: 5
minutes.
ANOTHER RASPBERRY JELLY.
(_Very Good._)
Bruise the fruit a _little_, and place it high above a clear fire, that
the juice may be gently drawn from it: it may remain thus for twenty
minutes or longer without boiling, and be simmered for four or five;
strain and weigh it; boil it quickly for twenty minutes, draw it from
the fire, add three-quarters of a pound of good sugar for each pound of
juice, and when this is dissolved place the pan again on the fire, and
boil the preserve _fast_ from twelve to fifteen minutes longer; skim it
thoroughly, and keep it well stirred: the preserve will then require
rather less boiling. When it jellies in falling from the spoon or
skimmer, it is done. Nothing of tin or iron should be used in making it,
as these metals will convert its fine red colour into a dull purple.
Fruit, simmered 5 to 6 minutes. Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 20
minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 12 to 15 minutes. Or: juice of raspberries, 4
lbs.; juice of white currants, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 10
minutes, or less.
RED CURRANT JELLY.
With three parts of fine ripe red currants freshly gathered, and
stripped from the stalks, mix one of white currants; put them into a
clean preserving-pan, and stir them gently over a clear fire until the
juice flows from them freely; then turn them into a fine hair-sieve, and
let them drain well, but without pressure. Pass the juice through a
folded muslin or a jelly-bag; weigh it, and then boil it _fast_ for a
quarter of an hour; add for each pound, eight ounces of sugar coarsely
powdered, stir this to it off the fire until it is dissolved, give the
jelly eight minutes more of quick boiling, and pour it out. It will be
firm, and of excellent colour and flavour. Be sure to clear off the scum
as it rises, both before and after the sugar is put in, or the preserve
will not be clear.
Juice of red currants, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15
minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 8 minutes.
_Obs._—An excellent jelly may be made with equal parts of the juice of
red and of white currants, and of raspberries, with the same proportion
of sugar and degree of boiling as in the foregoing receipt.
SUPERLATIVE RED CURRANT JELLY.
(_Norman Receipt._)
Strip carefully from the stems some quite ripe currants of the finest
quality, and mix with them an equal weight of _good_ sugar reduced to
powder; boil these together quickly for exactly eight minutes, keep them
stirred all the time, and clear off the scum—which will be very
abundant—as it rises; then turn the preserve into a very clean sieve,
and put into small jars the jelly which runs through it, and which will
be delicious in flavour, and of the brightest colour. It should be
carried immediately, when this is practicable, to an extremely cool but
not a damp place, and left there until perfectly cold. The currants
which remain in the sieve make an excellent jam, particularly if only
part of the jelly be taken from them. In Normandy where the fruit is of
richer quality than in England, this preserve is boiled only two
minutes, and is both firm and beautifully transparent.
Currants, 3 lbs.; sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 minutes.
_Obs._—This receipt we are told by some of our correspondents is not
generally quite successful in this country, as the jelly, though it
keeps well and is of the finest possible flavour, is scarcely firm
enough for table. We have ourselves found this to be the case in cold
damp seasons; but the preserve even then was valuable for many purposes,
and always agreeable eating.
FRENCH CURRANT JELLY.
Mix one-third of white currants with two of red, and stir them over a
gentle fire until they render their juice freely; pour it from them,
strain and weigh it; for every four pounds break three of fine sugar
into large lumps, just dip them into cold water, and when they are
nearly dissolved boil them to a thick syrup; stir this without ceasing
until it falls in large thick white masses from the skimmer; then pour
in the currant juice immediately, and when the sugar is again dissolved,
boil the whole quickly for five minutes, clear off the scum perfectly,
pour the jelly into jars or warm glasses, and set it in a cool place.
Red currants, two-thirds; white currants, one-third; juice, 4 lbs.;
sugar boiled to candy height, 3 lbs.: jelly boiled, 5 minutes.
_Obs._—A flavouring of raspberries is usually given to currant jelly in
France, the preserve being there never served with any kind of joint, as
it is with us.
DELICIOUS RED CURRANT JAM.
This, which is but an indifferent preserve when made in the usual way,
will be found a very fine one if the following directions for it be
observed; it will be extremely transparent and bright in colour, and
will retain perfectly the flavour of the fruit. Take the currants at the
height of their season, the finest that can be had, free from dust, but
gathered on a dry day; strip them with great care from the stalks, weigh
and put them into a preserving-pan with three pounds of the best sugar
reduced to powder, to four pounds of the fruit: stir them gently over a
brisk clear fire, and boil them quickly for exactly eight minutes from
the first full boil. As the jam is apt to rise over the top of the pan,
it is better not to fill it more than two-thirds, and if this precaution
should not be sufficient to prevent it, it must be lifted from the fire
and held away for an instant. To many tastes, a still finer jam than
this (which we find sufficiently sweet) may be made with an equal weight
of fruit and sugar boiled together for seven minutes. There should be
great exactness with respect to the time, as both the flavour and the
brilliant colour of the preserve will be injured by longer boiling.
Red currants (without stalks), 4 lbs.; fine sugar, 3 lbs.: boiled
quickly, 8 minutes. Or, equal weight fruit and sugar: 7 minutes.
VERY FINE WHITE CURRANT JELLY.
The fruit for this jelly should be very white, perfectly free from dust,
and picked carefully from the stalks. To every pound add eighteen ounces
of double refined sifted sugar, and boil them together quickly for eight
minutes; pour it into a delicately clean sieve, and finish it by the
directions given for the Norman red currant jelly (page 559).
White currants, 6 lbs.; highly refined sugar, 6-3/4 lbs.: 6 minutes.
WHITE CURRANT JAM, A BEAUTIFUL PRESERVE.
Boil together quickly for seven minutes an equal weight of fine white
currants, stalked with the greatest nicety, and of the best sugar
pounded and passed through a sieve. Stir the preserve gently the whole
time, and be careful to skim it thoroughly.
White currants, 4 lbs.; best sugar, 4 lbs.: 7 minutes.
CURRANT PASTE.
Stalk and heat some red currants as for jelly, pour off three parts of
the juice, which can be used for that preserve, and press the remainder,
with the pulp of the fruit, closely through a hair sieve reversed; boil
it briskly, keeping it stirred the whole time, until it forms a dry
paste; then for each pound (when first weighed) add seven ounces of
pounded sugar, and boil the whole from twenty-five to thirty minutes
longer, taking care that it shall not burn. This paste is remarkably
pleasant and refreshing in cases of fever, and acceptable often for
winter-desserts.
Red currants boiled from 5 to 7 minutes, pressed with one-fourth of
their juice through a sieve, boiled from 1-1/2 to 2 hour. To each pound
7 oz. pounded sugar: 25 to 30 minutes.
_Obs._—Confectioners add the pulp, after it is boiled dry, to an equal
weight of sugar at the candy height: by making trial of the two methods,
the reader can decide on the better one.
FINE BLACK CURRANT JELLY.
Stir some black currants over the fire until they have yielded their
juice; strain, weigh, and boil it for twenty minutes; add to it three
pounds and a half of sifted sugar of good quality, made quite hot, and
when it is dissolved boil the jelly for five minutes only, clearing off
the scum with care. This, though an excellent preserve, is too sweet for
our own taste, and we think one made with less sugar likely to be more
acceptable in cases of indisposition generally.
Juice of black currants, 4 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/2 lbs.: 5
minutes.
COMMON BLACK CURRANT JELLY.
Boil from three to six pounds of the juice rapidly for twenty minutes,
stirring it well; then mix with it off the fire, half a pound of sugar
for each pound of juice, and continue the boiling for ten minutes.
Juice of black currants, 3 to 6 lbs.: 20 minutes. To each pound juice
1/2 lb. good sugar: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—This jelly may be made with Lisbon sugar, but will then require
rather more boiling.
BLACK CURRANT JAM AND MARMALADE.
No fruit jellies so easily as black currants when they are ripe; and
their juice is so rich and thick that it will bear the addition of a
very small quantity of water sometimes, without causing the preserve to
mould. When the currants have been very dusty, we have occasionally had
them washed and drained before they were used, without any injurious
effects. Jam boiled down in the usual manner with this fruit is often
very dry. It may be greatly improved by taking out nearly half the
currants when it is ready to be potted, pressing them well against the
side of the preserving-pan to extract the juice: this leaves the
remainder far more liquid and refreshing than when the skins are all
retained. Another mode of making fine black currant jam—as well as that
of any other fruit—is to add one pound at least of juice, extracted as
for jelly, to two pounds of the berries, and to allow sugar for it in
the same proportion as directed for each pound of them.
For marmalade or paste, which is most useful in affections of the throat
and chest, the currants must be stewed tender in their own juice, and
then rubbed through a sieve. After ten minutes’ boiling, sugar in fine
powder must be stirred gradually to the pulp, off the fire, until it is
dissolved: a few minutes more of boiling will then suffice to render the
preserve thick, and it will become quite firm when cold. More or less
sugar can be added to the taste, but it is not generally liked very
sweet.
_Best black currant jam._—Currants, 4 lbs.; juice of currants, 2 lbs.:
15 to 20 minutes’ gentle boiling. Sugar, 3 to 4 lbs.: 10 minutes.
_Marmalade, or paste of black currants._—Fruit, 4 lbs.: stewed in its
own juice 15 minutes, or until quite soft. Pulp boiled 10 minutes.
Sugar, from 7 to 9 oz. to the lb.: 10 to 14 minutes.
_Obs._—The following are the receipts originally inserted in this work,
and which we leave unaltered.
To six pounds of the fruit, stripped carefully from the stalks, add four
pounds and a half of sugar. Let them heat gently, but as soon as the
sugar is dissolved boil the preserve rapidly for fifteen minutes. A more
common kind of jam may be made by boiling the fruit by itself from ten
to fifteen minutes, and for ten minutes after half its weight of sugar
has been added to it.
Black currants, 6 lbs.; sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 15 minutes. Or: fruit, 6
lbs.: 10 to 15 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—There are few preparations of fruit so refreshing and so useful
in illness as those of black currants, and it is therefore advisable
always to have a store of them, and to have them well and carefully
made.
NURSERY PRESERVE.
Take the stones from a couple of pounds of Kentish cherries, and boil
them twenty minutes; then add to them a pound and a half of raspberries,
and an equal quantity of red and of white currants, all weighed after
they have been cleared from their stems. Boil these together quickly for
twenty minutes; mix with them three pounds and a quarter of common
sugar, and give the preserve fifteen minutes more of quick boiling. A
pound and a half of gooseberries may be substituted for the cherries;
but they will not require any stewing before they are added to the other
fruits. The jam must be well stirred from the beginning, or it will burn
to the pan.
Kentish cherries, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Raspberries, red currants, and
white currants, of each 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/4 lbs.: 15
minutes.
ANOTHER GOOD COMMON PRESERVE.
Boil together, in equal or unequal portions (for this is immaterial),
any kinds of early fruit, until they can be pressed through a sieve;
weigh, and then boil the pulp over a brisk fire for half an hour; add
half a pound of sugar for each pound of fruit, and again boil the
preserve quickly, keeping it well stirred and skimmed, from fifteen to
twenty minutes. Cherries, unless they be morellas, must first be stewed
tender apart, as they will require a much longer time to make them so
than any other of the first summer fruits.
A GOOD MÉLANGE, OR MIXED PRESERVE.
Boil for three-quarters of an hour in two pounds of clear red gooseberry
juice, one pound of very ripe greengages, weighed after they have been
pared and stoned; then stir to them one pound and a half of good sugar,
and boil them quickly again for twenty minutes. If the quantity of
preserve be much increased, the time of boiling it must be so likewise:
this is always better done before the sugar is added.
Juice of ripe gooseberries, 2 lbs.; greengages, pared and stoned, 1 lb.:
3/4 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes.
GROSEILLÉE.
(_Another good preserve._)
Cut the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of well-flavoured ripe
gooseberries, throw them into a large preserving-pan, boil them for ten
minutes, and stir them often with a wooden spoon; then pass both the
juice and pulp through a fine sieve, and to every three pounds’ weight
of these add half a pint of raspberry-juice, and boil the whole briskly
for three-quarters of an hour; draw the pan aside, stir in for the above
portion of fruit, two pounds of sugar, and when it is dissolved renew
the boiling for fifteen minutes longer. Ripe gooseberries, boiled 10
minutes. Pulp and juice of gooseberries, 6 lbs.; raspberry-juice, 1
pint: 3/4 hour. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—When more convenient, a portion of raspberries can be boiled with
the gooseberries at first.
SUPERIOR PINE-APPLE MARMALADE.
(_A New Receipt._)
The market-price of our English pines is generally too high to permit
their being very commonly used for preserve; and though some of those
imported from the West Indies are sufficiently well-flavoured to make
excellent jam, they must be selected with judgment for the purpose, or
they will possibly not answer for it. They should be fully ripe, but
perfectly sound: should the stalk end appear mouldy or discoloured, the
fruit should be rejected. The degree of flavour which it possesses may
be ascertained with tolerable accuracy by its odour; for if of good
quality, and fit for use, it will be _very_ fragrant. After the rinds
have been pared off, and every dark speck taken from the flesh, the
pines may be rasped on a fine and delicately clean grater, or sliced
thin, cut up quickly into dice, and pounded in a stone or marble mortar;
or a portion may be grated, and the remainder reduced to pulp in the
mortar. Weigh, and then heat and boil it gently for ten minutes; draw it
from the fire, and stir to it by degrees fourteen ounces of sugar to the
pound of fruit; boil it until it thickens and becomes very transparent,
which it will be in about fifteen minutes, should the quantity be small:
it will require a rather longer time if it be large. The sugar ought to
be of the best quality and beaten quite to powder; and for this, as well
as for every other kind of preserve, it should be _dry_. A remarkably
fine marmalade may be compounded of English pines only, or even with one
English pine of superior growth, and two or three of the West Indian
mixed with it; but all when used should be _fully ripe_, without at all
verging on decay; for in no other state will their delicious flavour be
in its perfection.
In making the jam always avoid placing the preserving-pan _flat upon the
fire_, as this of itself will often convert what would otherwise be
excellent preserve, into a strange sort of compound, for which it is
difficult to find a name, and which results from the sugar being
subjected—when in combination with the acid of the fruit—to a degree of
heat which converts it into _caramel_ or highly-boiled barley-sugar.
When there is no regular preserving-stove, a flat trivet should be
securely placed across the fire of the kitchen-range to raise the pan
from immediate contact with the burning coals, or charcoal. It is better
to grate down, than to pound the fruit for the present receipt should
any parts of it be ever so slightly tough; and it should then be slowly
stewed until quite tender before any sugar is added to it; or with only
a very small quantity stirred in should it become too dry. A superior
marmalade even to this, might probably be made by adding to the rasped
pines a little juice drawn by a gentle heat, or expressed cold, from
inferior portions of the fruit; but this is only supposition.
A FINE PRESERVE OF THE GREEN ORANGE PLUM.
(_Sometimes called the Stonewood plum._)
This fruit, which is very insipid when ripe, makes an excellent preserve
if used when at its full growth, but while it is still quite hard and
green. Take off the stalks, weigh the plums, then gash them well (with a
silver knife, if convenient) as they are thrown into the preserving-pan,
and keep them gently stirred without ceasing over a moderate fire, until
they have yielded sufficient juice to prevent their burning; after this,
boil them quickly until the stones are entirely detached from the flesh
of the fruit. Take them out as they appear on the surface, and when the
preserve looks quite smooth and is well reduced, stir in three-quarters
of a pound of sugar beaten to a powder, for each pound of the plums, and
boil the whole very quickly for half an hour or more. Put it, when done,
into small moulds or pans, and it will be sufficiently firm when cold to
turn out well: it will also be transparent, of a fine green colour, and
very agreeable in flavour.
Orange plums, when green, 6 lbs.: 40 to 60 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.:
30 to 50 minutes.
_Obs._—The blanched kernels of part of the fruit should be added to this
preserve a few minutes before it is poured out: if too long boiled in it
they will become tough. They should always be wiped very dry after they
are blanched.
GREENGAGE JAM, OR MARMALADE.
When the plums are thoroughly ripe, take off the skins, stone, weigh,
and boil them quickly without sugar for fifty minutes, keeping them well
stirred; then to every four pounds add three of good sugar reduced quite
to powder, boil the preserve from five to eight minutes longer, and
clear off the scum perfectly before it is poured into the jars. When the
flesh of the fruit will not separate easily from the stones, weigh and
throw the plums whole into the preserving-pan, boil them to a pulp, pass
them through a sieve, and deduct the weight of the stones from them when
apportioning the sugar to the jam. The Orleans plum may be substituted
for greengages in this receipt.
Greengages, stoned and skinned, 6 lbs.: 50 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 5
to 8 minutes.
PRESERVE OF THE MAGNUM BONUM, OR MOGUL PLUM.
Prepare, weigh, and boil the plums for forty minutes; stir to them half
their weight of good sugar beaten fine, and when it is dissolved
continue the boiling for ten additional minutes, and skim the preserve
carefully during the time. This is an excellent marmalade, but it may be
rendered richer by increasing the proportion of sugar. The blanched
kernels of a portion of the fruit stones will much improve its flavour,
but they should be mixed with it only two or three minutes before it is
taken from the fire. When the plums are not entirely ripe, it is
difficult to free them from the stones and skins: they should then be
boiled down and pressed through a sieve, as directed for greengages, in
the receipt above.
Mogul plums, skinned and stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 to
8 minutes.
TO DRY OR PRESERVE MOGUL PLUMS IN SYRUP.
Pare the plums, but do not remove the stalks or stones; take their
weight of dry sifted sugar, lay them into a deep dish or bowl, and strew
it over them; let them remain thus for a night, then pour them gently
into a preserving-pan with all the sugar, heat them slowly, and let them
just simmer for five minutes; in two days repeat the process, and do so
again and again at an interval of two or three days, until the fruit is
tender and very clear; put it then into jars, and keep it in the syrup,
or drain and dry the plums very gradually, as directed for other fruit.
When they are not sufficiently ripe for the skin to part from them
readily, they must be covered with spring water, placed over a slow
fire, and just scalded until it can be stripped from them easily. They
may also be entirely prepared by the receipt for dried apricots which
follows, a page or two from this.
MUSSEL PLUM CHEESE AND JELLY.
Fill large stone jars with the fruit, which should be ripe, dry, and
sound; set them into an oven from which the bread has been drawn several
hours, and let them remain all night; or, if this cannot conveniently be
done, place them in pans of water, and boil them gently until the plums
are tender, and have yielded their juice to the utmost. Pour this from
them, strain it through a jelly bag, weigh, and then boil it rapidly for
twenty-five minutes. Have ready, broken small, three pounds of sugar for
four of the juice, stir them together until it is dissolved, and then
continue the boiling quickly for ten minutes longer, and be careful to
remove all the scum. Pour the preserve into small moulds or pans, and
turn it out when it is wanted for table: it will be very fine, both in
colour and in flavour.
Juice of plums, 4 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.
The cheese.—Skin and stone the plums from which the juice has been
poured, and after having weighed, boil them an hour and a quarter over a
brisk fire, and stir them constantly; then to three pounds of fruit add
one of sugar, beaten to powder; boil the preserve for another half hour,
and press it into shallow pans or moulds.
Plums, 3 lbs.: 1-1/4 hour. Sugar, 1 lb.: 30 minutes.
APRICOT MARMALADE.
This may be made either by the receipt for greengage, or Mogul plum
marmalade; or the fruit may first be boiled quite tender, then rubbed
through a sieve, and mixed with three-quarters of a pound of sugar to
the pound of apricots: from twenty to thirty minutes will boil it in
this case. A richer preserve still is produced by taking off the skins,
and dividing the plums in halves or quarters, and leaving them for some
hours with their weight of fine sugar strewed over them before they are
placed on the fire; they are then heated slowly and gently simmered for
about half an hour.
TO DRY APRICOTS.
(_A quick and easy method._)
Wipe gently, split, and stone some fine apricots which are not
over-ripe; weigh, and arrange them evenly in a deep dish or bowl, and
strew in fourteen ounces of sugar in fine powder, to each pound of
fruit; on the following day turn the whole carefully into a
preserving-pan, let the apricots heat slowly, and simmer them very
softly for six minutes, or for an instant longer, should they not in
that time be quite tender. Let them remain in the syrup for a day or
two, then drain and spread them singly on dishes to dry.
To each pound of apricots, 14 oz. of sugar; to stand 1 night, to be
simmered from 6 to 8 minutes, and left in syrup 2 or 3 days.
DRIED APRICOTS.
(_French Receipt._)
Take apricots which have attained their full growth and colour, but
before they begin to soften; weigh, and wipe them lightly; make a small
incision across the top of each plum, pass the point of a knife through
the stalk end, and gently push out the stones without breaking the
fruit; next, put the apricots into a preserving-pan, with sufficient
cold water to float them easily; place it over a moderate fire, and when
it begins to boil, should the apricots be quite tender, lift them out
and throw them into more cold water, but simmer them, otherwise, until
they are so. Take the same weight of sugar that there was of the fruit
before it was stoned, and boil it for ten minutes with a quart of water
to the four pounds; skim the syrup carefully, throw in the apricots
(which should previously be well drained on a soft cloth, or on a
sieve), simmer them for one minute, and set them by in it until the
following day, then drain it from them, boil it for ten minutes, and
pour it on them the instant it is taken from the fire; in forty-eight
hours repeat the process, and when the syrup has boiled ten minutes, put
in the apricots, and simmer them from two to four minutes, or until they
look quite clear. They may be stored in the syrup until wanted for
drying, or drained from it, laid separately on slates or dishes, and
dried very gradually: the blanched kernels may be put inside the fruit,
or added to the syrup.
Apricots, 4 lbs., scalded until tender; sugar 4 lbs.; water, 1 quart: 10
minutes. Apricots, in syrup, 1 minute; left 24 hours. Syrup, boiled
again, 10 minutes, and poured on fruit: stand 2 days. Syrup, boiled
again, 10 minutes, and apricots 2 to 4 minutes, or until clear.
_Obs._—The syrup should be quite thick when the apricots are put in for
the last time; but both fruit and sugar vary so much in quality and in
the degree of boiling which they require, that no _invariable_ rule can
be given for the latter. The apricot syrup strained very clear, and
mixed with twice its measure of pale French brandy, makes an agreeable
liqueur, which is much improved by infusing in it for a few days half an
ounce of the fruit-kernels, blanched and bruised, to the quart of
liquor.
We have found that cherries prepared by either of the receipts which we
have given for preserving them with sugar, if thrown into the apricot
syrup when partially dried, just scalded in it, and left for a
fortnight, then drained and dried as usual, become a delicious
sweetmeat. Mussel, imperatrice, or any other plums, when quite ripe, if
simmered in it very gently until they are tender, and left for a few
days to imbibe its flavour, then drained and finished as usual, are
likewise excellent.
PEACH JAM, OR MARMALADE.
The fruit for this preserve, which is a very delicious one, should be
finely flavoured, and quite ripe, though perfectly sound. Pare, stone,
weigh, and boil it quickly for three-quarters of an hour, and do not
fail to stir it often during the time; draw it from the fire, and mix
with it ten ounces of well-refined sugar, rolled or beaten to powder,
for each pound of the peaches; clear it carefully from scum, and boil it
briskly for five minutes; throw in the strained juice of one or two
_good_ lemons; continue the boiling for three minutes only, and pour out
the marmalade. Two minutes after the sugar is stirred to the fruit, add
the blanched kernels of part of the peaches.
Peaches, stoned and pared, 4 lbs.; 3/4 hour. Sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.: 2
minutes. Blanched peach-kernels: 3 minutes. Juice of 2 _small_ lemons: 3
minutes.
_Obs._—This jam, like most others, is improved by pressing the fruit
through a sieve after it has been partially boiled. Nothing can be finer
than its flavour, which would be injured by adding the sugar at first;
and a larger proportion renders it cloyingly sweet. Nectarines and
peaches mixed, make an admirable preserve.
TO PRESERVE, OR TO DRY PEACHES OR NECTARINES.
(_An easy and excellent Receipt._)
The fruit should be fine, freshly gathered, and _fully ripe_, but still
in its perfection. Pare, halve, and weigh it after the stones are
removed; lay it into a deep dish, and strew over it an equal weight of
highly refined pounded sugar; let it remain until this is nearly
dissolved, then lift the fruit gently into a preserving-pan, pour the
juice and sugar to it, and heat the whole over a very slow fire; let it
just simmer for ten minutes, then turn it softly into a bowl, and let it
remain for two days; repeat the slow heating and simmering at intervals
of two or three days, until the fruit is quite clear, when it may be
potted in the syrup, or drained from it, and dried upon large clean
slates or dishes, or upon wire-sieves. The flavour will be excellent.
The strained juice of a lemon may be added to the syrup, with good
effect, towards the end of the process, and an additional ounce or two
of sugar allowed for it.
DAMSON JAM. (VERY GOOD.)
The fruit for this jam should be freshly gathered and quite ripe. Split,
stone, weigh, and boil it quickly for forty minutes; then stir in half
its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved,
give the preserve fifteen minutes additional boiling, keeping it
stirred, and thoroughly skimmed.
Damsons, stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—A more refined preserve is made by pressing the fruit through a
sieve after it is boiled tender; but the jam is excellent without.
DAMSON JELLY.
Bake separately in a very slow oven, or boil in a pan or copper of water
as described at page 497, any number of fine ripe damsons, and one-third
the quantity of bullaces, or of any other pale plums, as a portion of
their juice will, to most tastes, improve, by softening the flavour of
the preserve, and will render the colour brighter. Pour off the juice
clear from the fruit, strain and weigh it; boil it quickly without sugar
for twenty-five minutes, draw it from the fire, stir into it ten ounces
of good sugar for each pound of juice, and boil it quickly from six to
ten minutes longer, carefully clearing off all the scum. The jelly must
be often stirred before the sugar is added, and constantly afterwards.
DAMSON, OR RED PLUM SOLID. (GOOD.)
Pour the juice from some damsons which have stood for a night in a very
cool oven, or been stewed in a jar placed in a pan of water; weigh and
put it into a preserving-pan with a pound and four ounces of pearmains
(or of any other fine boiling apples), pared, cored, and quartered, to
each pound of the juice; boil these together, keeping them well stirred,
from twenty-five to thirty minutes, then add the sugar, and when it is
nearly dissolved, continue the boiling for ten minutes. This, if done
with exactness, will give a perfectly smooth and firm preserve, which
may be moulded in small shapes, and turned out for table. The juice of
any good red plum may be used for it instead of that of damsons.
To each pound clear damson-juice, 1-1/4 lb. pearmains (or other good
apples), pared and cored: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 14 oz.: 10 minutes.
EXCELLENT DAMSON CHEESE.
When the fruit has been baked or stewed tender, as directed above, drain
off the juice, skin and stone the damsons, pour back to them from a
third to half of their juice, weigh and then boil them over a clear
brisk fire, until they form quite a dry paste; add six ounces of pounded
sugar for each pound of the plums; stir them off the fire until this is
dissolved, and boil the preserve again without quitting or ceasing to
stir it, until it leaves the pan quite dry, and adheres in a mass to the
spoon. If it should not stick to the fingers when lightly touched, it
will be sufficiently done to keep very long; press it quickly into pans
or moulds; lay on it a paper dipped in spirit when it is perfectly cold;
tie another fold over it, and store it in a dry place.
Bullace cheese is made in the same manner, and almost any kind of plum
will make an agreeable preserve of the sort.
To each pound of fruit, pared, stoned, and mixed with the juice and
boiled quite dry, 6 oz. of pounded sugar, boiled again to a dry paste.
RED GRAPE JELLY.
Strip from their stalks some fine ripe black-cluster grapes, and stir
them with a wooden spoon over a gentle fire until all have burst, and
the juice flows freely from them; strain it off without pressure, and
pass it through a jelly-bag, or through a twice-folded muslin; weigh and
then boil it rapidly for twenty minutes; draw it from the fire, stir in
it until dissolved, fourteen ounces of good sugar, roughly powdered, to
each pound of juice, and boil the jelly quickly for fifteen minutes
longer, keeping it constantly stirred, and perfectly well skimmed. It
will be very clear, and of a beautiful pale rose-colour.
Juice of black-cluster grapes: 20 minutes. To each pound of juice, 14
oz. good sugar: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—We have proved this jelly only with the kind of grape which we
have named, but there is little doubt that fine purple grapes of any
sort would answer for it well.
ENGLISH GUAVA.
(_A firm, clear, bright Jelly._)
Strip the stalks from a gallon or two of the large kind of bullaces
called the shepherd’s bullace; give part of them a cut, put them into
stone jars, and throw into one of them a pound or two of imperatrice
plums, if they can be obtained; put the jars into pans of water, and
boil them as directed at page 497; then drain off the juice, pass it
through a thick strainer or jelly-bag, and weigh it; boil it quickly
from fifteen to twenty minutes; take it from the fire, and stir in it
till dissolved three-quarters of a pound of sugar to the pound of juice;
remove the scum with care, and boil the preserve again quickly from
eight to twelve minutes, or longer should it not then jelly firmly on
the skimmer. When the fruit is very acid, an equal weight of juice and
sugar may be mixed together in the first instance, and boiled briskly
for about twenty minutes. It is impossible to indicate the _precise_
time which the jelly will require, so much depends on the quality of the
plums, and on the degree of boiling previously given to them in the
water-bath. When properly made it is remarkably transparent and _very_
firm. It should be poured into shallow pans or small moulds, and turned
from them before it is served. When the imperatrice plum cannot be
procured, any other that will give a pale red colour to the juice will
answer. The bullaces alone make an admirable preserve; and even the
commoner kinds afford an excellent one.
Juice of the shepherd’s bullace and imperatrice, or other red plum, 4
lbs.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 to 12 minutes. Or juice of
bullaces and sugar, equal weight: 20 minutes.
_Obs._—After the juice has been poured from the plums they may be
stoned, pared, weighed, and boiled to a paste; then six ounces of sugar
added to the pound, and the boiling continued until the preserve is
again very dry; a small portion of the juice should be left with the
fruit for this.
VERY FINE IMPERATRICE PLUM MARMALADE.
Weigh six pounds of the fruit when it is quite ripe, but before the
frost has touched it; give each plum a cut as it is thrown into the
preserving-pan, and when all are done boil them from thirty-five to
forty minutes, taking out the stones as they rise to the surface, when
they are quite detached from the flesh of the fruit. Draw back the pan
from the fire, stir in two pounds of good sugar beaten to powder, and
boil the preserve quickly for fifteen minutes. The imperatrice plum is
of itself so sweet that this proportion of sugar makes with it a very
rich preserve.
Imperatrice plums (without the stalks) 6 lbs.: boiled 35 to 40 minutes.
Sugar 2 lbs. (added after the stones are out): 15 minutes.
_Obs._—Some slight trouble would be avoided by pressing the fruit
through a sieve after the first boiling; but we do not think the
marmalade would be improved by being freed from the skins of the plums.
TO DRY IMPERATRICE PLUMS.
(_An easy method._)
Put them into jars, or wide-necked bottles, with half a pound of good
sugar, rolled or pounded, to twice the weight of fruit; set them into a
very cool oven for four or five hours; or, if more convenient, place
them, with a little hay between them, in a pan of cold water and boil
them gently for rather more than three hours. Leave them in the syrup
for a few days, and finish them as directed for the drying of other
fruits. Tie a bladder over the necks of the jars or bottles before they
are placed in the pan of water, and fasten two or three folds of paper
over the former, or cork the bottles when the fruit is to be baked. The
sugar should be put in after the fruit, without being shaken down; it
will then dissolve gradually, and be absorbed by it equally.
To each pound of plums, 8 ounces pounded sugar: baked in cool oven 4 or
5 hours, or steamed 3 hours.
TO BOTTLE FRUIT FOR WINTER USE.
Gather the fruit in the middle of the day in very dry weather; strip off
the stalks, and have in readiness some perfectly clean and dry
wide-necked bottles; turn each of these the instant before it is filled,
with the neck downwards, and hold in it two or three lighted matches:
drop in the fruit before the vapour escapes, shake it gently down, press
in some new corks, dip the necks of the bottles into melted resin, set
them at night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn six or
seven hours at least, and let them remain until the morning: if the heat
be too great the bottles will burst. Currants, cherries, damsons,
greengages, and various other kinds of plums will remain good for quite
twelve months when bottled thus, if stored in a dry place.
To steam the fruit, put the bottles into a copper or other vessel up to
their necks in cold water, with a little hay between and under them;
light the fire, let the water heat slowly, and keep it at the point of
gentle simmering until the fruit is sufficiently scalded. Some kinds
will of course require a much longer time than others. From half to
three quarters of an hour will be sufficient for gooseberries, currants,
and raspberries; but the appearance of all will best denote their being
done. When they have sunk almost half the depth of the bottles, and the
skins are shrivelled, extinguish the fire, but leave them in the water
until it is quite cold; then wipe and store the bottles in a dry place.
A bit of moistened bladder tied over corks is better than the resin when
the fruit is steamed.
APPLE JELLY.
Various kind of apples may be used successfully to make this jelly, but
the nonsuch is by many persons preferred to all others for the purpose.
The Ripstone pippin, however, may be used for it with very good effect,
either solely, or with a mixture of pearmains. It is necessary only that
the fruit should be finely flavoured, and that it should boil easily to
a marmalade. Pare, core, quarter, and weigh it quickly that it may not
lose its colour, and to each pound pour a pint of cold water and boil it
until it is well broken, without being reduced to a quite thick pulp, as
it would then be difficult to render the juice perfectly clear, which it
ought to be. Drain this well from the apples, either through a fine
sieve or a folded muslin strainer, pass it afterwards through a
jelly-bag, or turn the fruit at once into the last of these, and pour
the liquid through a second time if needful. When it appears quite
transparent, weigh, and reduce it by quick boiling for twenty minutes;
draw it from the fire, add two pounds of sugar broken very small, for
three of the decoction; stir it till it is entirely dissolved, then
place the preserving-pan again over a clear fire and boil the preserve
quickly for ten minutes, or until it jellies firmly upon the skimmer
when poured from it; throw in the strained juice of a small lemon for
every two pounds of jelly, two minutes before it is taken from the fire.
Apples, 7 lbs.; water, 7 pints: 1/2 to full hour. Juice, 6 lbs.: 20
minutes _quick_ boiling. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 to 25 minutes. Juice three
lemons.
EXCEEDINGLY FINE APPLE JELLY.
Pare quickly some highly flavoured juicy apples of any kind, or of
various kinds together, for this is immaterial; slice, without dividing
them; but first free them from the stalks and eyes; shake out some of
the pips, and put the apples evenly into very clean large stone jars,
just dipping an occasional layer into cold water as this is done, the
better to preserve the colour of the whole. Set the jars into pans of
water, and boil the fruit slowly until it is quite soft, then turn it
into a jelly-bag or cloth and let the juice all drop from it. The
quantity which it will have yielded will be small, but it will be clear
and rich. Weigh, and boil it for ten minutes, then draw it from the
fire, and stir into it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of
_good_ sugar to the pound and quarter (or pint) of juice. Place the
preserve again over the fire and stir it without intermission, except to
clear off the scum, until it has boiled from eight to ten minutes
longer, for otherwise it will jelly on the surface with the scum upon
it, which it will then be difficult to remove, as when touched it will
break and fall into the preserve. The strained juice of one small fresh
lemon to the pint of jelly should be thrown into it two or three minutes
before it is poured out, and the rind of one or two cut very thin may be
simmered in the juice before the sugar is added; but the pale, delicate
colour of the jelly will be injured by too much of it, and many persons
would altogether prefer the pure flavour of the fruit.
Juice of apples, 1 quart, or 2-1/2 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 8
to 10 minutes. Juice, 2 small lemons; rind of 1 or more at pleasure.
_Obs._—The quantity of apples required for it renders this a rather
expensive preserve, where they are not abundant; but it is a remarkably
fine jelly, and turns out from the moulds in perfect shape and _very_
firm.[168] It may be served in the second course, or for rice-crust. It
is sometimes made without paring the apples, or dipping them into the
water, and the colour is then a deep red: we have occasionally had a
pint of water added to about a gallon and a half of apples, but the
jelly was not then _quite_ so fine in flavour. The best time for making
it is from the end of November to Christmas. Quince jelly would, without
doubt, be very fine made by this receipt; but as the juice of that fruit
is richer than that of the apple, a little water might be added.
Alternate layers of apples and quinces would also answer well, we think.
Footnote 168:
It is, we should say, quite equal to _gelée de pommes_, for which
Rouen is somewhat celebrated.
QUINCE JELLY.
Pare, quarter, core, and weigh some ripe but quite sound quinces, as
quickly as possible, and throw them as they are done into part of the
water in which they are to be boiled, as directed at page 456; allow one
pint of this to each pound of the fruit, and simmer it gently until it
is a little broken, but not so long as to redden the juice, which ought
to be very pale. Turn the whole into a jelly-bag, or strain the liquid
through a fine cloth, and let it drain very closely from it but without
the slightest pressure. Weigh the juice, put it into a delicately clean
preserving-pan, and boil it quickly for twenty minutes; take it from the
fire and stir in it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of
sugar for each pound of juice, or fourteen ounces if the fruit should be
very acid, which it will be in the earlier part of the season; keep it
constantly stirred and thoroughly cleared from scum, from ten to twenty
minutes longer, or until it jellies strongly in falling from the
skimmer; then pour it directly into glasses or moulds. If properly made,
it will be sufficiently firm to turn out of the latter, and it will be
beautifully transparent, and rich in flavour. It may be made with an
equal weight of juice and sugar mixed together in the first instance,
and boiled from twenty to thirty minutes. It is difficult to state the
time precisely, because from different causes it will vary much. It
should be reduced rapidly to the proper point, as long boiling injures
the colour: this is always more perfectly preserved by boiling the juice
without the sugar first.
To each pound pared and cored quinces, 1 pint water: 3/4 to 1-1/2 hour.
Juice, boiled 20 minutes. To each pound, 12 oz. sugar: 10 to 20 minutes.
Or, juice and sugar equal weight: 20 to 30 minutes.
QUINCE MARMALADE.
When to economise the fruit is not an object, pare, core, and quarter
some of the inferior quinces, and boil them in as much water as will
nearly cover them, until they begin to break; strain the juice from
them, and for the marmalade put half a pint of it to each pound of fresh
quinces: in preparing these, be careful to cut out the hard stony parts
round the cores. Simmer them gently until they are perfectly tender,
then press them, with the juice, through a coarse sieve; put them into a
perfectly clean pan, and boil them until they form almost a dry paste;
add for each round of quinces and the half pint of juice, three-quarters
of a pound of sugar in fine powder, and boil the marmalade for half an
hour, stirring it gently without ceasing: it will be very firm and
bright in colour. If made shortly after the fruit is gathered, a little
additional sugar will be required; and when a richer and less dry
marmalade is better liked, it must be boiled for a shorter time, and an
equal weight of fruit and sugar may be used.
Quinces, pared and cored, 4 lbs.; prepared juice, 1 quart: 2 to 3 hours.
Boiled fast to dry, 20 to 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 30 minutes.
Richer marmalade: quinces, 4 lbs.; juice, 1 quart; sugar, 4 lbs.
QUINCE AND APPLE MARMALADE.
Boil together, from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, two pounds of
pearmains, or of any other well-flavoured apples, in an equal weight of
prepared quince-juice (see page 456), then take them from the fire, and
mix with them a pound and a half of sugar, in fine powder; when this is
a little dissolved, set the pan again over a brisk fire, and boil the
preserve for twenty minutes longer, keeping it stirred all the time.
Prepared quince-juice, 2 lbs.; apples, 2 lbs.: 3/4 to 1 hour. Sugar,
1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes.
QUINCE PASTE.
If the full flavour of the quinces be desired, stew them sufficiently
tender to press through a sieve, in the prepared juice of page 456,
otherwise, in just water enough to about three parts cover them; when
they are soft quite through lift them out, let them cool, and then pass
them through a sieve; reduce them to a dry paste over a very clear fire,
and stir them constantly; then weigh the fruit, and mix it with an equal
proportion of pounded sugar, or sugar boiled to candy height (we find
the effect nearly the same, whichever method be pursued), and stir the
paste without intermission until it is again so dry as to quit the pan
and adhere to the spoon in one large ball; press it into shallow pans or
dishes; cut it, as soon as cold, into small squares, and should they
seem to require it, dry them with a very gentle degree of heat, and when
they are again cold store them in tin cases with well-dried foolscap
paper between them: the paste may be moulded, when more convenient, and
kept until it is wanted for table, in a very dry place. In France, where
the fruit is admirably confected, the _pâte de coigns_, or quince paste,
is somewhat less boiled than we have directed, and dried afterwards in
the sun, or in an extremely gentle oven, in square tin frames, about an
inch and a half deep, placed upon clean slates.
JELLY OF SIBERIAN CRABS.
This fruit makes a jelly of beautiful colour, and of pleasant flavour
also: it may be stored in small moulds of ornamental shape, and turned
out for rice-crust. Take off the stalks, weigh, and wash the crabs;
then, to each pound and a half, add a pint of water and boil them gently
until they are broken, but do not allow them to fall to a pulp. Pour the
whole into a jelly-bag, and when the juice is quite transparent, weigh
it, put it into a clean preserving-pan, boil it quickly for fifteen
minutes, take it from the fire, and stir in it until dissolved
three-quarters of a pound of fine sugar roughly powdered to each pound
of the juice; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes, skim it
very clean, and pour it into the moulds. Should the quantity be large, a
few additional minutes’ boiling must be given to the juice before the
sugar is added.
To each 1-1/2 lb. of crabs; water, 1 pint: 12 to 18 minutes. Juice to be
fast boiled, 15 minutes; sugar, to each pound, 3/4 lb.; 15 to 20
minutes.
TO PRESERVE BARBERRIES IN BUNCHES.
Take the finest barberries without stones that can be procured, tie them
together in bunches of four or five sprigs, and for each half pound of
the fruit (which is extremely light), boil one pound of very good sugar
in a pint of water for twenty minutes, and clear it well from scum;
throw in the fruit, let it heat gently, and then boil from five to seven
minutes, when it will be perfectly transparent. So long as any snapping
noise is heard the fruit is not all done; it should be pressed equally
down into the syrup until the whole of the berries have burst; and
should then be turned into jars, which must be covered with skin or two
or three folds of thick paper, as soon as the preserve is perfectly
cold. The barberries thus prepared make a beautiful garnish for sweet
dishes, or for puddings.
Barberries, tied in bunches, 1-1/2 lb.; sugar 3 lbs.; water 1-1/2 pint:
20 minutes. Barberries boiled in syrup: 5 to 7 minutes.
BARBERRY JAM.
(_First and best Receipt._)
The barberries for this preserve should be quite ripe, though they
should not be allowed to hang until they begin to decay. Strip them from
the stalks, throw aside such as are spotted, and for each pound of the
fruit allow eighteen ounces of well-refined sugar; boil this, with one
pint of water to every four pounds, until it becomes white, and falls in
thick masses from the spoon; then throw in the fruit, and keep it
stirred over a brisk fire for six minutes only; take off the scum, and
pour it into jars or glasses.
Sugar, 4-1/4 lbs.; water, 1-1/4 pint: boiled to candy height.
Barberries, 4 lbs.: 6 minutes.
_Barberry Jam. Second Receipt._—The preceding is an excellent receipt,
but the preserve will be _very_ good if eighteen ounces of pounded sugar
be mixed and boiled with the fruit for ten minutes and this is done at a
small expense of time and trouble.
Sugar pounded, 2-1/4 lbs.; fruit, 2 lbs.: boiled 10 minutes.
SUPERIOR BARBERRY JELLY, AND MARMALADE.
Strip the fruit from the stems, wash it in spring-water, drain, bruise
it slightly, and put it into a clean stone jar, with no more liquid than
the drops which hang about it. Place the jar in a pan of water, and
steam the fruit until it is quite tender: this will be in from thirty
minutes to an hour. Pour off the clear juice, strain, weigh, and boil it
quickly from five to seven minutes, with eighteen ounces of sugar to
every pound. For the marmalade, rub the barberries through a sieve with
a wooden spoon, and boil them quickly for the same time, and with the
same proportion of sugar as the jelly.
Barberries boiled in water-bath until tender; to each pound of juice, 1
lb. 2 oz. sugar: 5 minutes. Pulp of fruit to each pound, 18 oz. sugar: 5
minutes.
_Obs._—We have always had these preserves made with very ripe fruit, and
have found them extremely good; but more sugar may be needed to sweeten
them sufficiently when the barberries have hung less time upon the
trees.
ORANGE MARMALADE.
(_A Portuguese Receipt._)
Rasp very slightly on a fine and delicately clean grater the rinds of
some sound Seville oranges; cut them into quarters, and separate the
flesh from the rinds; then with the small end of a tea, or egg-spoon,
clear it entirely from the pips, and from the loose inner skin and film.
Put the rinds into a large quantity of cold water, and change it when
they have boiled about twenty minutes. As soon as they are perfectly
tender lift them out, and drain them on a sieve; slice them thin, and
add eight ounces of them to each pound of the pulp and juice, with a
pound and a half of highly-refined sugar in fine powder; boil the
marmalade quickly for half an hour, skim it well, and turn it into the
jars. The preserve thus made will not have a very powerful flavour of
the orange rind. When more of this is liked, either leave a portion of
the fruit unrasped, or mix with the preserve some of the zest which has
been grated off, allowing for it its weight of sugar. Or proceed thus:
allow to a dozen Seville oranges two fine juicy lemons, and the weight
of the whole in sifted sugar, of excellent quality. With a sharp knife
cut through the rinds just deep enough to allow them to be stripped off
in quarters with the end of a spoon, and throw them for a night into
plenty of cold spring-water; on the following morning boil them
sufficiently tender to allow the head of a pin to pierce them easily;
then drain them well, let them cool, and scrape out the white part of
the rind, and cut the remainder into thin chips. In the mean time have
the pulp of the fruit quite cleared from the pips and film; put it with
the chips into a preserving-pan, heat them slowly, boil them for ten
minutes, draw the pan from the fire, and stir gradually in, and dissolve
the remainder of the sugar, and boil the preserve more quickly for
twenty minutes, or until it thickens and appears ready to jelly. This
mode, though it gives a little additional trouble, will prevent the
orange-chips from becoming hard, which they will sometimes be if much
sugar be added to them at first. The sugar first broken into large
lumps, is sometimes made into a very thick syrup, with so much water
only as will just dissolve it; the pulp and juice are in that case
boiled in it quickly for ten minutes before the chips are added; and a
part of these are pounded and stirred into the preserve with the others.
March is the proper month for making this preserve, the Seville oranges
being then in perfection. For lemon marmalade proceed exactly in the
same manner as for this.
Rinds of Seville oranges, lightly rasped and boiled tender, 2 lbs.; pulp
and juice, 4 lbs.; sugar, 6 lbs.: 1/2 hour. Or, weight of oranges, first
taken in sugar, and added, with all the rinds, to the pulp after the
whole has been properly prepared.
GENUINE SCOTCH MARMALADE.
“Take some bitter oranges, and double their weight of sugar; cut the
rind of the fruit into quarters and peel it off, and if the marmalade be
not wanted very thick, take off some of the spongy white skin inside the
rind. Cut the chips as thin as possible, and about half an inch long,
and divide the pulp into small bits, removing carefully the seeds, which
may be steeped in part of the water that is to make the marmalade, and
which must be in the proportion of a quart to a pound of fruit. Put the
chips and pulp into a deep earthen dish, and pour the water boiling over
them; let them remain for twelve or fourteen hours, and then turn the
whole into the preserving-pan, and boil it until the chips are perfectly
tender. When they are so, add by degrees the sugar (which should be
previously pounded), and boil it until it jellies. The water in which
the seeds have been steeped, and which must be taken from the quantity
apportioned to the whole of the preserve, should be poured into a
hair-sieve, and the seeds well worked in it with the back of a spoon; a
strong clear jelly will be obtained by this means, which must be washed
off them by pouring their own liquor through the sieve in small portions
over them. This must be added to the fruit when it is first set on the
fire.”
Oranges, 3 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; sugar, 6 lbs.
_Obs._—This receipt, which we have not tried ourselves, is guaranteed as
an excellent one by the Scottish lady from whom it was procured.
CLEAR ORANGE MARMALADE.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
This, especially for persons in delicate health, is far more wholesome
than the marmalade which contains chips of the orange-rinds. The fruit
must be prepared in the same manner, and the pulp very carefully cleared
from the pips and skin. The rinds taken off in quarters (after having
been washed and wiped quite clean from the black soil which is sometimes
found on them), must be boiled extremely tender in a large quantity of
water, into which they may be thrown when it boils. They should be well
drained upon a large hair sieve reversed, so soon as the head of a pin
will pierce them easily; and the white skin and fibres should be scraped
entirely from them while they are still warm. They should then be
pounded to a paste, and well blended with the pulp and juice, these
being added to them by degrees, that they may not remain in lumps. A
quarter of a pint of water, in which the seeds have been immersed for an
hour or two, well worked up with them, and then passed through a net
strainer[169] or coarse sieve, will soften the flavour of the marmalade,
and assist its jellying at the same time. Boil it rather quickly without
sugar for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, then finish it by the
directions for “Orange Marmalade, Portuguese Receipt,” of the preceding
page, but regulate the proportion of sugar and the time of boiling as
follows:—
Footnote 169:
Strainers of coarse bobbin-net, which is very cheap, are preferable to
muslin for preparations which are jellied, as the water becomes thick
when the orange-seeds are steeped in it.
Pulp and juice of Seville oranges, 1-1/2 lb.; water strained from pips,
1/2 pint; pounded orange-rinds 3/4 lb.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 2-3/4
lb. (3 lb. if the fruit should be very acid), half added first, 10 to 15
minutes; with remaining half, 15 to 20 minutes, or until the marmalade
becomes quite thick and clear.
_Obs._—We have occasionally had more water than the proportion given
above used in making this preserve, which is very nice in flavour, but
which may be made to suit various tastes by adding a larger or smaller
quantity of the rinds; and a larger weight of sugar when it is liked
very sweet. When the bitterness of the fruit is objected to, the rinds
may be steeped for a night in a plentiful quantity of spring water.
FINE JELLY OF SEVILLE ORANGES.
(_Author’s Original Receipt._)
Although we have appropriated this receipt to another work, we cannot
refrain from inserting it here as well, so delicious to our taste is the
jelly which we have had made by it. For eighteen full-sized oranges
allow a pint and a half of water. Take off the rinds in quarters from
ten of them, and then free them entirely from their tough white skin,
and with a sharp knife cut them into rather thick slices, and put them
with all the pips into the water. Halve the remainder of the fruit
without paring it, and squeeze the juice and pips, but _not the pulp_,
to the sliced oranges; and place them by the fire in an enamelled
stewpan which they will not more than two-thirds fill. Heat and boil
them gently between twenty and thirty minutes, then strain the juice
closely from them without pressure, through a large square of muslin
folded in four, or, if more convenient, pass it first through a very
thin and delicately clean cloth, and afterwards through the folded
muslin. Weigh and boil it quickly for five minutes; then for each pound
stir gradually to it fourteen ounces of highly refined sugar, broken
small or roughly powdered; and when it is quite dissolved, continue the
boiling for a few minutes longer, when the preserve will jelly easily
and firmly, and be pale and beautifully transparent, and most agreeable
in flavour.
Seville oranges, 18; of which 10 pared and sliced. Water, 1-1/2 pint,
and juice of 8 oranges: gently heated and boiled 20 to 30 minutes. Juice
boiled quickly 5 minutes. To each lb. 14 oz. sugar: 5 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—On our second trial we had the _very thin_ rind of three of the
oranges stewed with the fruit, which we thought an improvement. The
jelly in both instances was made, we believe, in April, when the fruit
was fully ripe: earlier in the season it would probably require longer
boiling. On one occasion it became quite firm _very quickly_ after the
sugar was added to the juice; that is to say, in three or four minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXV.
=Pickles.=
[Illustration:
Mango.
]
OBSERVATIONS ON PICKLES.
WITH the exception of walnuts,[170] which, when softened by keeping, or
by the mode of preparing them, are the least objectionable of any
pickle, with Indian mangoes, and one or two other varieties, these are
not very wholesome articles of diet,[171] consisting, as so many of them
do, of crude hard vegetables, or of unripe fruit. In numerous instances,
too, those which are commonly sold to the public have been found of so
deadly a nature as to be eminently dangerous to persons who partake of
them often and largely. It is most desirable, therefore, to have them
prepared at home, and with good _genuine_ vinegar, whether French or
English. That which is home-made can at least be relied on; and it may
be made of excellent quality and of sufficient strength for all ordinary
purposes. The superiority of French vinegar results from its being made
of wine; no substitute producing any equal to that derived from the
unmixed juice of the grape. In our next page will be found the address
of the importers, from whom, or whose agents, we have for several years
been supplied with it.
Footnote 170:
The bitter of the green walnut renders it a fine stomachic. In France
a liqueur called “_Ratifia de Brou de Noix_,” is made by infusing the
bruised fruit in brandy.
Footnote 171:
Flavoured vinegars or mustard are more so, and are equally appetising
and pungent.
Pickles should always be kept quite covered with their liquor, and well
secured from the air and from the influence of damp; the last of which
is especially detrimental to them. We can quite recommend to the reader
the rather limited number of receipts which follow, and which might
easily be multiplied did the size of our volume permit. Pickling is so
easy a process, however, that when in any degree properly acquired, it
may be extended to almost every kind of fruit and vegetable
successfully. A few of the choicer kinds will nevertheless be found
generally more acceptable than a greater variety of inferior
preparations. Mushrooms, gherkins, walnuts, lemons, eschalots, and
peaches, for all of which we have given minute directions, will furnish
as much choice as is commonly required. Very excellent Indian mangoes
too may be purchased at the Italian warehouses, and to many tastes will
be more acceptable than any English pickle. We have had them _very_ good
from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, whose house we have already had
occasion to name more than once.
TO PICKLE CHERRIES.
Leave about an inch of their stalks on some fine, sound Kentish or
Flemish cherries, which are not over ripe; put them into a jar, cover
them with cold vinegar, and let them stand for three weeks; pour off
two-thirds of the liquor and replace it with fresh vinegar; then, after
having drained it from the fruit, boil the whole with an ounce of
coriander seed, a small blade of mace, a few grains of cayenne, or a
teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and four bruised cochineals to every
quart, all tied loosely in a fold of muslin. Let the pickle become quite
cold before it is added to the cherries: in a month they will be fit for
use. The vinegar which is poured from the fruit makes a good syrup of
itself, when boiled with a pound of sugar to the pint, but it is
improved by having some fresh raspberries, cherries, or currants
previously infused in it for three or four days.
TO PICKLE GHERKINS.
Let the gherkins be gathered on a dry day, before the frost has touched
them; take off the blossoms, put them into a stone jar, and pour over
them sufficient boiling brine to cover them well. The following day take
them out, wipe them singly, lay them into a clean stone jar, with a
dozen bay leaves over them, and pour upon them the following pickle,
when it is boiling fast: as much vinegar as will more than cover the
gherkins by an inch or two, with an ounce and a quarter of salt, a
quarter-ounce of black peppercorns, an ounce and a half of ginger
sliced, or slightly bruised, and two small blades of mace to every
quart; put a plate over the jar, and leave it for two days, then drain
off the vinegar, and heat it afresh; when it boils, throw in the
gherkins, and keep them just on the point of simmering for two or three
minutes; pour the whole back into the jar, put the plate again upon it,
and let it remain until the pickle is quite cold, when a skin, or two
separate folds of thick brown paper, must be tied closely over it. The
gherkins thus pickled are very crisp, and excellent in flavour, and the
colour is sufficiently good to satisfy the prudent housekeeper, to whom
the brilliant and _poisonous_ green produced by boiling the vinegar in a
brass skillet (a process constantly recommended in books of cookery) is
anything but attractive. To satisfy ourselves of the effect produced by
the action of the acid on the metal, we had a few gherkins thrown into
some vinegar which was boiling in a brass pan, and nothing could be more
beautiful than the colour which they almost immediately exhibited. We
fear this dangerous method is too often resorted to in preparing pickles
for sale.
Brine to pour on gherkins:—6 oz. salt to each quart water: 24 hours.
Pickle:—to each quart vinegar, salt, 1-1/4 oz.; black peppercorns, 1/4
oz.; ginger, sliced or bruised, 1-1/2 oz.; mace, 2 small blades; bay
leaves; 24 to 100 gherkins, more when the flavour is liked: 2 days.
Gherkins simmered in vinegar, 2 to 3 minutes.
_Obs._—The quantity of vinegar required to cover the gherkins will be
shown by that of the brine: so much depends upon their size, that it is
impossible to direct the measure exactly. A larger proportion of spice
can be added at pleasure.