To make clear, good preserves requires: 1st. No economy of trouble; 2d. That the fruit be perfectly fresh, alive from the tree or bush, or, as a friend says, “tasting of the sun.”

The French make the clearest, best preserves, because they spare no pains. They first prepare their sirup or clarified sugar; then, after neatly and carefully paring or dressing their fruit, cook a few pieces at a time, or only as many as they can oversee, carefully lifting each piece out of the sirup the moment it is done. How they preserve strawberries in bottle (each little bottle of which sells for seventy-five cents), retaining the full flavor and almost the firmness of the fresh strawberries, is something for me to investigate.

I consider the peach marmalade the most valuable preserve, as it is useful in preparing desserts. It is a good sauce for almost any kind of pudding, especially corn-starch and rice puddings. Preserves are generally made too sweet. Before hermetically sealed cans or jars were in general use, it required a large quantity of sugar to keep the preserves from fermenting. Now, in using cans, one can suit the taste as to the sweetness of the preserve. I prefer tin cans to glass bottles, as sometimes the bottled jelly or preserves will ferment, requiring a second cooking. Tin cans have never failed me. Others prefer bottles, having no trouble, they say, in tightening them perfectly. The citron preserve, flavored with root ginger and lemon, is a success. It has the flavor of the ginger preserve from the West Indies, which is so fashionable, expensive, and serviceable as an accompaniment for ice-cream, etc.; it is also inexpensive.

Apples preserved with a flavor of lemon and ginger are particularly nice also; of course, they are not as firm as citron, and do not imitate so well the ginger preserve. The outside of the water-melon (skinned) makes a clear, pretty preserve, flavored in the same manner. The next in favor is the greengage preserve, which is as clear and beautiful as it is delicate in flavor. Peaches, unless made into marmalade, are better when canned with very little sugar than when preserved. Canned peaches, half-frozen when served, make a delicious dessert with cake.

First, then, for preserves the sirup must be made. I give the old rule; yet, as before remarked, if canned, they may be made less sweet. I generally use half a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit.

Sirup for Preserves.

Put two pounds of the best white sugar, with one pint of fresh, clear water, into a white porcelain saucepan; put it on the fire, and before the sirup becomes hot mix well into it the partly beaten white of an egg. When it begins to boil, remove the scum as it rises; watch it constantly that it does not boil over; and continue to boil it until no more scum rises.

Now peach, pear, greengage, Siberian crab-apple, and cherry preserves are all made in the same manner. The peaches are neatly peeled, stoned, and halved. The pears are peeled, cored, and cut into two. The greengage makes a prettier preserve without being skinned—pricking them, and halving the stem. The French preserve greengages in this manner. Some think the skins of plums are tough in preserves, and throw them into boiling water to skin them. The Siberian crab-apple, which makes a very good preserve, is cored with a small tin tube or corer (see page 57). Half of the stem is cut from cherries. When the sirup is gently boiling, a few pieces are put into it at one time. They are boiled until they become just soft. Do not allow them to break. When the pieces are done, take them carefully out, and put more into the sirup until all are cooked; pour the sirup over, and put them into jars.

Many add a little juice of lemon to pear, crab-apple, and plum preserves. I would recommend a very little. In the case of peaches, more flavor is gained by boiling the pits, if they are cling-stone (which they should be—the White Heath being the best preserving peach), and after straining the water using it to make the sirup. They will be firmer by laying the uncooked peaches into the sirup, and letting them remain in it overnight, cooking them the next morning. Others harden fruit by letting it remain ten or fifteen minutes in alum-water. This impairs the flavor. However, for good, clear preserves, I prefer the first method of preserving them, using the pits for the water with which to make peach marmalade. Peach marmalade and peach preserves should be made at the same time, when the peaches of less pretentious appearance can be used for the marmalade. Boil preserves without a cover to the kettle.

Citron Preserves (Miss Leslie).

The citrons can be pared, cored, and sliced, or cut into fancy shapes with cutters which are made for the purpose. To six pounds of the citron, use six pounds of sugar, four lemons, and a quarter of a pound of ginger-root.

Put the slices of lemon into a preserving-kettle, and boil them for half an hour, or until they look clear, in a little clear water; then drain them. Save the water, and put the slices into another dish with a little cold water; cover them, and let them stand overnight. In the morning wrap the root-ginger (bruised) in a thin muslin cloth; boil it in three pints of clear water until the water is highly flavored, when take out the bag of ginger. Having broken up the loaf-sugar, put it into the preserving-kettle with the ginger-water. When the sugar is all melted, set it over the fire; boil, and skim until no more scum rises. Then put in the pieces of citron and the juice of the lemons. Boil them in the sirup till all the slices are quite transparent. Do not allow them to break. When done, put them into the cans or jars, pouring the sirup carefully over them. If one desires to imitate the West Indies ginger preserve, the slices of lemon may not be added; yet they are a pretty addition.

Quince Preserves (Mrs. Hazard).

Pare, core, and quarter the quinces. Select the best-looking quarters for the preserves; the inferior-looking ones reserve, with the cores and skins, for the marmalade.

For the preserves, allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Make a sirup as before described (sirup for preserves), allowing one pint of water to two pounds of sugar. When it is clear, and still boiling-hot, add the hot quinces, which have been boiled in just enough clear water to cover them well-boiled until they are tender, or are easily pierced with a broom-straw—no longer. The preserves are now ready to be put away. With this proportion of fruit, water, and sugar, the preserves will not have much juice. What there is will form a thin, clear jelly around the quinces after they are kept a short time: the hot sirup will draw juice from the hot quinces to flavor and color it just enough. There is much difference in the choice of quinces. There is a kind which makes a white or light-colored preserve, very inferior in flavor to the large quince, which makes the red.

Tomato Preserves (Mrs. Wilson).

Choose little red, plum-shaped tomatoes, if red preserves are desired, and the small yellow ones for yellow preserves. Peel, and prick them with a large needle; boil them slowly for half an hour in preserving-sirup, with the juice of one lemon to every two pounds of tomatoes; add also a little bag of ginger-root; then skim out the tomatoes; let them remain two or three hours in the sun to harden. Put the white of an egg into the sirup; boil and skim well, and pour it over the tomatoes. The old rule is a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. I prefer three-quarters of a pound of the former to a pound of the latter. The yellow tomatoes are preferable.

Grape Preserves.

Squeeze with your fingers the pulp from each grape. Put the pulps on the fire, and boil them until they are tender; then press them through a colander, so that the seeds may be taken out; now add the skins to the pulps and juice. Put a cupful of sugar to each cupful of fruit, and boil all together until of a thick consistency. Green-grape preserves are also nice. In managing the green grapes, halve them, and extract the seeds with a small knife. Put also a cupful of sugar to a cupful of fruit. Many prefer the green to the ripe grape preserves.

Apple Ginger.

Boil ginger-root, tied in a thin muslin bag, in clear water until the water is well flavored; make a sirup of this water and sugar, adding to it a little lemon-juice, and allowing three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of apples. When the sirup is skimmed clear, boil in it a few quarters of the apples at a time, until they become clear—no longer. Replace the apples in the sirup when it becomes cold. The golden pippins should be used. This preserve can be made without ginger.

Candied Fruits.

Boil peaches, plums, pears, apricots, cherries, or almost any fruit dressed, in a thick sirup made with a tea-cupful of water to each pound of sugar, until tender—no longer. Let them remain two days in the sirup; then take them out, drain them, and sprinkle sugar over each piece separately. Dry them slowly in the sun or in an oven not too warm.

MARMALADES.

To produce the best marmalades, choose ripe and luscious fruits. Cut them into pieces, and put them into the preserving-kettle with layers of sugar, placing fruit at the bottom.

For marmalades of peach, pear, green grape, pine-apple, quince, or plum, allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. If the fruit is not very juicy, add a little water. Be careful that the marmalade does not burn. When the whole begins to look clear, and becomes thick by cooling a portion of it on a plate, it is done, and may be put into jars at once.

Quince Marmalade.

Save the water in which the quinces for preserving were boiled; add to it the skins and cores, rejecting those which are worm-eaten or discolored. After boiling about half an hour, strain through a colander, allowing the pulp only to pass. To this juice add the reserved quince quarters and the sugar (three-fourths of a pound of sugar to one pound of fruit). Let all boil together slowly for about an hour and a half, stirring occasionally, and breaking the quinces into small pieces. When done, pour it into glasses or bowls. The marmalade will harden, and each mold will form a convenient little dish for lunch.

Peach Marmalade

is made as above. Yet more flavor may be obtained by boiling the pits until their flavor is extracted; then remove them, and continue boiling the water until you have sufficient to add to the peaches.

Orange Marmalade.

Allow three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Cut the peels so that they may be removed in four pieces. Boil these peels in a large quantity of water for two hours; then cut them into fine shreds. While these are boiling, press the inside of the oranges through a sieve fine enough to prevent the seeds and skin from passing through. For every five oranges, add the grated rind and juice of one lemon. Put all into a preserving-kettle with the sugar. When done, the marmalade should be quite thick and solid. Cover closely in little preserving-jars.

Raspberry Jam.

Use three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. First boil the fruit a few minutes with very little water; then add the sugar. Boil three-quarters of an hour, stirring well. Fill little jars or glasses, covering them first with papers soaked in brandy, and then with second papers moistened with the whites of eggs, and pressed against the sides of the glasses to exclude the air.

Greengage Jam.

Use three-quarters of a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit. Skin and stem ripe greengages, and boil them quickly for three-quarters of an hour with the sugar, and only enough water to keep them from burning at first. Skim, and stir very frequently.

Brandy Peaches.

Use cling-stone peaches. Rub off the down from each one, and prick it to the stone with a silver fork. Make a sirup with half a pound of sugar for each pound of peaches, and half a tea-cupful of water for each pound of sugar; also add a little white of egg slightly beaten. Skim, when it boils, as long as the scum rises. Then put in the peaches, boiling them slowly until they are just tender, and no longer; then take them carefully out. Remove the sirup from the fire, and add to it half a pint of the best brandy to a pound of peaches. Now pour this over the peaches. Can them, or put them into jars, well secured.

Apricots and greengages brandied are made in the same way.

To Jelly Fruits.

To make jelly clear, the fruit must be quite fresh, and all blemishes removed. Have the flannels used for straining perfectly clean and white. Nearly all jellies are made in the same way, whether currant, plum, Siberian crab-apple, gooseberry, quince, apple, peach, or grape. Some add less sugar to the sweeter fruits. The first five fruits mentioned are exceedingly easy to jelly; the grape is often quite vexatious, with its perverse inclinations. Cherries will not jelly without gelatine.

After having freed the fruit from all blemishes, put them into a porcelain preserving-kettle, with only enough clear water to keep them from burning at first. Let them boil slowly until quite soft; then, putting them into a flannel cloth, press from them all the juice possible. Strain the juice two or three times through a clean cloth; then return it to the clean preserving-kettle, adding a cup of sugar for every cup of juice, and the beaten white of an egg for the whole. The rule is to boil the sirup (without stirring) very rapidly for twenty minutes, not counting the minutes until it begins to boil. The safest rule is to boil it until it runs a little thick upon the spoon; then let it run through the jelly-bag without pressing it. If there is any fear of the jelly becoming too hard before it all runs through, place it near the fire. The most convenient jelly-strainer is made by fastening the four corners of a flannel cloth to a filter-stool (see page 57). If the first dripping of the jelly is not entirely clear, return it to the strainer until it runs perfectly limpid. Put the jelly into glasses; and, after it has become quite firm, cut out little papers to fit the tops, which should be dipped in brandy. Place over these second papers larger ones, which have been dipped in the whites of eggs. Press the edges against the sides of the glasses, to exclude the air.

Currant Jelly.

Follow the preceding directions. A jelly of prettier color is obtained by mixing the white and red currants. Some take the trouble to make jelly from the white and red currants separately, then harden it in successive layers in the glasses. In this way, the jelly has to be made on different days, allowing time for each layer to harden. Another pretty arrangement is to melt the jelly the day before it is served at the table, and put it into a little jelly-mold. The next day it will be quite hard enough to turn out.

Currant Jelly (from Scribner’s Monthly).

“This receipt has three advantages: First, it never fails, as the old plan is sure to do five times out of eight; secondly, it requires but half the usual quantity of sugar, and so retains the grateful acidity and peculiar flavor of the fruit; thirdly, it is by far less troublesome than the usual method. Weigh the currants without taking the trouble to remove the stems; do not wash them, but carefully remove leaves and whatever may adhere to them. To each pound of fruit allow half the weight of granulated or pure loaf sugar. Put a few currants into a porcelain-lined kettle, and press them with a potato-masher, or any thing convenient, in order to secure sufficient liquid to prevent burning; then add the remainder of the fruit, and boil freely for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Take out and strain carefully through a three-cornered bag of strong, close texture, putting the liquid into either earthen or wooden vessels—never in tin, as the action of the acid on tin materially affects both color and flavor. When strained, return the liquid to the kettle, without the trouble of measuring, and let it boil thoroughly for a moment or so, and then add the sugar. The moment the sugar is entirely dissolved, the jelly is done, and must be immediately dished, or placed in glasses. It will jelly upon the side of the cup as it is taken up, leaving no doubt as to the result. Gather the fruit early, as soon as fully ripe, since the pulp softens and the juice is less rich if allowed to remain long after ripening. In our climate, the first week in July is usually considered the time to make currant jelly. Never gather currants or other soft or small seed fruit immediately after a rain for preserving purposes, as they are greatly impoverished by the moisture absorbed. In preserving all fruits of this class, if they are boiled until tender or transparent in a small quantity of water, and the sugar is added afterward, the hardness of the seeds, so objectionable in small fruits, will be thus avoided. A delicious jam may be made of blackberries, currants, and raspberries, or with currants with a few raspberries to flavor, by observing the above suggestion, and adding sugar, pound for pound, and boiling about twenty minutes.”

Mrs. Walworth’s Currant Jelly.

This jelly took the premium at the fair, for it was not only of fine flavor, but of crystal clearness.

An equal proportion of red and white currants was placed in the whitest of porcelain kettles, with a very little clear water, just enough to keep the fruit from burning at first, and was boiled twenty minutes, then poured into a jelly-bag; this was not squeezed or touched until a quantity of clear liquid had run through. (The bag afterward can be well pressed, and the second juice can be made into an inferior jelly.) To each pint of the first clear liquid was added a pound of loaf-sugar; it was then returned to the porcelain kettle (well cleaned), and, after it came to the boiling-point, was boiled twenty-five minutes. The jelly was again passed through the bag, after being well cleaned.

COMPOTES

are fresh fruits boiled when needed, with very little sugar. I consider it a pity to cook or stew peaches, when they are so much better fresh, with sugar sprinkled over them and half-frozen. And what a destruction of fine pears! However, compotes are much appreciated and used in France. I value compotes of apples, however, and also of inferior hard pears. The first two of the receipts are from Professor Blot.

A pound of sugar in a porcelain stew-pan, with a pint of water, a wine-glass of brandy, and a small piece of grated cinnamon. Set it on a slow fire, skimming off the foam; boil it for ten minutes; then, after cooling, bottle it, and by cooking well it will keep for months in a cool, dry place.

Compote of Peaches and Apricots.

Cut the fruit in two; take out the stones; throw them into boiling water (a very little lemon added) for two minutes; then throw them into cold or ice water, taking them out immediately. This makes them white. Then peel them. Put a pint of water into a porcelain pan, and set it on a good fire; when boiling-hot, put in the apricots or peaches, and skim off the foam; as soon as soft, take them out, place them on a dish, and pour over sirup.

Compote of Apples.

Quarter, peel, core, and cook apples in a stew-pan, with a little water and sugar. Take out the apples when cooked. Boil down the sirup (adding sliced lemon and some raisins) to a jelly; then pour it over the apples. Brandy added improves it.

A Beautiful Stuffed Compote.

Choose large fine pippins of equal size; pare them, and take out the cores, leaving the apples entire; cook them about three parts done in sirup; drain and bake them a few moments in a quick oven. When they are done and still hot, fill the interior with peach marmalade. Now roll each apple in jelly produced by boiling down the sirup used to boil the apples; this will give the apples a beautiful gloss. Dish them in pyramidal form; put cream, or whipped cream, or a little maraschino, around the base. Or, form them into a dome, and pour over them a mÉringue of beaten whites of eggs and sugar, sticking regularly over the top sweet almonds cut into four lengths (same size); put it into the oven to brown. This looks like the apple hedgehog. Or, pour among the apples, before pouring over the mÉringue, a marmalade of apples or boiled rice.

---