Cochineal Coloring (Sixth Method)

Ingredients

• a breakfast-cupful of water
• loz. of Cochineal beaten to a fine powder
• loz. of cream of tartar
• 2 grains of alum

Method

1. 1

   Pour a breakfast-cupful of water into a saucepan, and as soon as it boils add 1 ounce of Cochineal beaten to a fine powder in a mortar, and boil for ten minutes longer; then add 1 ounce of cream of tartar beaten up with 2 grains of alum, and boil for another few minutes.

2. 2

   Remove the pan from the fire, let the liquor cool and settle, pour it off into bottles, and it is ready for use.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The encyclopædia of practical cookery (1890) by Theodore Francis Garrett, page 391. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

loz. of cream of tartar and joz. of alum. When dissolved, strain the colouring through a flannel bag, and as soon as it is cold put it in small bottles, corking them tightly. (2) Boil jib. of ground Cochineal with 2qts. of water, then add 21b. of loaf sugar, jib. of alum, fib. of cream of tartar, and boil it again. Strain through a jelly-bag, and when cold put it into bottles. (3) Mix together joz. each of alum, cream of tartar, and Cochineal, with j pint of boiling water ; put the mixture into a porcelain stewpan, and let it stand on the stove for twenty-five minutes. Stir in gradually joz. of salts of tartar, and add jib. of caster sugar. Strain and bottle it. (4) Boil 1 joz. of Cochineal and 2oz. of cream of tartar with lqt. of water in an untinned copper pan ; then add 12oz. of loaf sugar and loz. of salts of wormwood, and boil for a few minutes longer ; next add loz. of alum, and boil for three minutes longer. Strain through a jelly-bag. When the colouring is cold, add j pint of spirits of wine, and bottle it. (5) Put loz. of finely-bruised or powdered Cochineal into a sugar-boiler, add joz. each of finely-powdered alum and salts of wormwood, pour over 2 breakfast-cupfuls of filtered water, boil up, and let it simmer for two minutes. Take the boiler from the fire, and with a wooden spoon stir in loz. of cream of tartar, pour the whole into a flannel bag (a very thick one), and filter into a basin. Put 4oz. of sugar into the sugar-boiler, with a little water, and boil it to a slight caramel ( see Sdoab-boiling). Pour the Cochineal liquor over this, taking care not to let any sediment go in, mix well for a few minutes longer, and pour in a small quantity of spirits of wine. When cool, it should be bottled and corked securely. If put in a cool place the Cochineal will keep good for a long time. (6) Pour a breakfast-cupful of water into a saucepan, and as soon as it boils add loz. of Cochineal beaten to a fine powder in a mortar, and boil for ten minutes longer ; then add loz. of cream of tartar beaten up with 2 grains of alum

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.