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The "Queen" cookery books: Pickles and Preserves

1902

Page 13 · 3 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
thread forms, which can he stretched some way before snapping ; lay the fruit into the syrup at this point, and boil up once geutly, then lift the pan from the fire, skim carefully, and pour syrup and fruit into an earthenware basin, and leave it till next day ; then drain off the syrup, add a little more sugar, and again boil to the“ pearl ” till the thread will stretch a little further before snapping, and again boil up the fruit as before. Repeat this exactly for five days more, then on the sixth day boil the sugar till you can stretch your finger and thumb to the uttermost without breaking the thread, boil the fruit up again and bottle and cork down at once. They will keep in this svrup for a long time ; when wanted for dessert purposes lift them from the bottles, drain for a little on a sieve, then place them on pastry racks, or trays, in the oven, till dry or glaces. Or they may be drained in this way, and then dipped in sugar boiled to the crack ( i.e ., till on dropping a little into cold water it will harden at once and fall with a little tinkle like glass, or if bitten will break crisp and hard), and then left to dry on oiled slabs. Preserved in this way they are extremely nice, but do not keep good for more than a few days at the outside. Soft fruit, such as strawberries, &c., must not be boiled in the syrup, but only need the boiling syrup (brought to the proper degree) poured over them. Of course as strict attention must be paid to the tight closing of the bottles containing these fi’uits as foi any other bottled fruit. Again fruit is often preserved in brandy, with excellent effect. This may be done in two ways 26 PICKLES AND PRESERVES. either the fruit is bottled in syrup as before, to which brandy or spirit to taste is added, or else the fruit after preparation, is laid in the bottles, with brandy enough to cover them, corked down tightly and left for a month, after which the brandy is strained off and mixed with sugar candy in the proportion of 4oz. of the crushed candy to each pint of the brandyBottled Fruit in Brandy when this is thoroughly melted, it is all strained through flannel till bright and clear, and then returned to the fruit (being careful there is enough to cover them well), and they are then ready for use, but will keep for a long time. Another form of bottled dried fruit is one seen abroad, in which the fruit is reduced, to powder. It is prepared thus : stalk any fruit, such as currants, cherries, &c., and remove the stones, then crush them till every drop of juice is extracted ; tammy this, and for each part of juice allow from four to six parts of very white (cane) loaf sugarBottled Dried Fruit Powder, crushed and sifted. Stir the juice and sugar together till you obtain a granular kind of paste ; dry this slowly but thoroughly in the stove, then crush to powder and store in very clean, dry and tightly corked bottles. A spoonful of this fruit sugar dissolved in a glass of iced or aerated water makes a most refreshing drink in hot weather. Lastly, there is bottled fruit pulp, which is very easily prepared, and will enable one to have apparently fresh fruit puree all the year round. For this choose perfectly ripe (but not the least over ripe ) fruit, freshly gathered on a dry, hot day, and pulp this fruit, raw, through a delicately clean CANNING AND BOTTLING. 27 Bottled Fruit Pulp