JELLIES, JAMS, &c.
It is necessary to observe, that as these jellies are directed to be done much in the same manner as the marmalades; that a material difference must be observed in sifting the different sorts of fruits, not to force any thing but the juices, which make the jellies clearer, and ought for that purpose to be strained in linen cloth.
To make Orange Flowers into Jelly.
After they are preserved as has been directed, you must clarify a little more sugar, with orange flower water, and make a jelly of codlings, which, when ready, put in the flowers, syrup, and all; give them a boil, scum them, and put them into your glasses or pots.
To make Quince Jelly.
Take a quantity of spring water and put into it as many quinces thin sliced, with cores and parings, as will conveniently boil to be tender, also a large handful of hartshorn; boil it very fast, keeping it stirring; when it is strong enough tasted, rub it through a jelly bag: this is best when it looks pure white; let your hartshorn be boiled first, add this to your syrup, and boil it all together.
To make Apricot Jelly.
You must keep them in the syrup till codlings are pretty well grown, taking care to visit them sometimes that they do not sour; which if they do, the syrup will be lost, by reason it will become muddy, and then you will be obligated to make your jelly with all fresh sugar, which will be too sweet; but when codlings are of an indifferent bigness, draw a jelly from them as we have directed from pippins; then drain the apricots from the syrup, boil it and strain it through your straining bags: then boil some sugar, proportionably to the quantity of apricots you design to put up, till it blows; then put in the jelly, and boil it a little with the sugar; then put in the syrup and the apricots, and give them all a boil together till you find the syrup will become a jelly; then remove them from the fire, scum them well, and put them into your pots or glasses, observing, as they cool, if they be regular in the glasses, to sink and disperse them to a proper distance, and, when quite cold, to cover them up.
To put Peach Chips in Jelly.
Draw a jelly from codlings, and when they are boiled enough, take as much jelly as sugar, boil the sugar to blow very strong; then put in the jelly, give it a boil, and put it to the chips; give all a boil, scum them, and put them into your glasses.
To make Bell Grapes in Jelly.
Take the long, large bell, or rouson grapes, pick the stalks off, stone them, and put them into boiling water; give them a thorough scald, take them from the fire and cover them down close; so that no steam can come out; then set them upon a very gentle fire, so as not to boil, for two or three hours; take them out, put them into clarified sugar boiled till it blows very strong, as much as will a little more than cover them, and give all a good boil; scum them; boil a little more sugar to blow very strong, take as much plumb jelly as sugar, and give all a boil; then add the grapes to it, give them a boil together, scum them well, and put them up into your pots or glasses.
To make Currant Jelly.
Wash your currants well; put them into a pan, and mash them; then put in a little water, boil them to a mummy, stew it on a sieve, and press out all the juice, of which make your jelly.
To make White Currant Jelly.
Wash your currant as before, strain them carefully, mash them, and set them on a slow fire; put in a little water and boil it well, after which take them out and proceed as before.
Another Way.
Strip off the currants, put them into a jug, set the jug in a kettle of water, let it boil an hour, then throw your currants and juice into a fine lawn sieve, press out all the juice, and to every pint of juice put a pound of double refined sugar; put them in your preserving pan, set it over a charcoal fire, and keep it stirring till it is a jelly, which you will know by taking a little out to cool; observe to take off the scum as it rises, and when it is jellied and very clear, pour it into glasses; when cold, cut round pieces of paper that will just cover the jelly, dipped in brandy; put white paper over the glasses, twisted round the top, and prick the paper full of holes with a pin.
To make Black Currant Jelly.
Make it the same way as the red currant jelly, only with this difference, make it with the coarsest lump sugar.
- Note.—This jelly is never used in a dessert, but is a very good thing for a sore throat.
To make Calves Foot Jelly.
Take a set of calves feet, take the long bone out, split the foot, and take out the fat; boil these in six quarts of water with half a pound of hartshorn, till it be a jelly; which you may know by cooling a little in a plate, then strain it off, and scum the fat off; beat the whites of twelve eggs, add as much sugar as will sweeten it, the juice of six lemons, some mace, a little orange-flower water, and a pint of white wine; stir this all together over a stove till it boils; it must not be too sweet, not too sharp; strain it through a jelly-bag, and let it run on lemon peel to give it a colour.
To make Apple Jelly.
Pare the softer sort of pleasant tasted apples, slice them very thin, take out the cores and seeds, boil a pound of them in a quart of water till a fourth part be consumed; strain it well, and to every pint and an half put three quarters of a pound of sugar, with a little mace or cinnamon, and boil it up to a thickness, adding a quarter of a pound of isinglass; then strain it again and again, and put it up for use.
To make Raspberry Jelly.
Make it the same way as the red currant jelly, only put one half currants and one half raspberries.
To make Orange Jelly.
Boil in two quarts of spring water, one ounce of isinglass till it is dissolved, strain it off, and let it stand till is cold; pare very thin the rinds of four Seville orange, take the juice of six or seven,let them stand twelve or fourteen hours, strain the liquor off, mix the juice with the jelly, sweeten it with double refined sugar; put in a little space, such as cloves and mace, and some nutmeg; beat the whites of five or six eggs to a forth, put it to the rest, boil it five or six minutes, run it through a jelly-bag several times, till it is clear.
To make Hartshorn Jelly.
Take half a pound of hartshorn shavings, and an ounce of isinglass; cut the isinglass to pieces, put it and the shavings to five pints of spring water; boil it to less than a quart, over a gentle fire; strain it, and let it stand all night to settle; melt the jelly, squeeze in two lemons and an half, the whites of seven eggs, half a pint of white mountain wine, and sweeten it to your taste with double refined sugar; then put all these ingredients upon the fire, stir it pretty much till it boils, but boil it very little; stir it well together, scum it through a jelly-bag, but let it not run very fast, if it does, put it in again; put lemon peel into the glasses; this quantity will make a dozen and an half of glasses.
Another Way.
Put two quarts of water into a clean pan, with half a pound of hartshorn shavings, let it simmer till near one half is reduced; strain it off, then put in the peel of four oranges and two lemons, pared very thin; boil them five minutes, put to it the juice of the before-mentioned lemons and oranges, with about ten ounces of double refined sugar; beat the whites of six eggs to a froth,mix them carefully with your jelly, that you do not poach the eggs; just let it boil up, and run it through a jelly-bag till it is clear.
- Note.—When it is made for sick persons, only sweeten it, and tincture it with saffron.
To make Isinglass Jelly.
Boil an ounce of isinglass, and a quarter of an ounce of cloves, in a quart of water, till it is reduced to a pint; then strain it over some sugar.
Jelly for Moulds.
As this jelly requires to be a great deal stronger than for glasses, it will of course be necessary to have stronger things to make it with. You must take two calf's feet, and one neat's foot, take out the large bones, and cut them in small pieces; if you do not like the neat's foot, use two ounces of isinglass in its stead; put it into a large saucepan or pot, with a gallon of water, a lemon peel cut thin, and a stick of cinnamon; boil it gently till it is reduced to three pints or less; as it boils skim it well, try it with a spoon as before directed, and if you fine it strong enough, strain it off, and let it settle half an hour, then skim the top, and pour it from the settlings into a stew-pan, put in half a pint of white wine, sweeten it with loaf sugar, squeeze six lemons, straining the juice to keep out the seeds, and put it in with a little lemon peel; if you want it quite clear and bright, do not put in any saffron; if you want it an amber colour, put in a little saffron; if a very high colour, bruise a little cochineal and put in; boil it up for ten minutes; beat the whites of ten eggs up to a high froth, mix them with the jelly well together, and boil it up for ten minutes, then take it off the fire, cover it, and let it stand for five minutes; have your bag ready with a bowl under, pour your jelly in gently, and as it runs through pour it into the bag again, till it is as bright as you want it; when it has all run through, fill your moulds, and let it stand till it is cold, then loosen the sides with your fingers, dip the mould into warm water, and turn it out on your dish.
To make green Melon Jelly.
Make a pint of blanc-mange, and colour it of a light green with the juice of spinach, put it into a melon mould, and when it is cold turn it out; have a deep mould with a little jelly at the bottom quite cold, put your melon in, and put in some jelly blood-warm, let it be cold, then fill up your mould with more blood-warm jelly, let it stand all night, and the next morning turn it into a dish, and garnish it with sweetmeats, flowers, or any thing you fancy,
To put Fruit in Jelly
Have a plain mould, either long or round, about three inches deep; have some mould jelly made as directed, and put some at the bottom of the mould about a quarter of an inch thick, let it be cold, then put in ripe peaches, grapes, or any sort of ripe fruit, preserved fruit, or China oranges cut in quarters, or in any shape you fancy; put in a little jelly blood-warm, and let it stand til it is cold to fasten your fruit in its place, otherwise it will rise up; then fill up your mould with blood-warm jelly,let it stand till it is thoroughly cold, then turn it into a dish, and garnish it to your fancy.
These jellies look extremely well in a dish, if you are careful to put in your fruit neatly, to shew it to advantage, and your jelly very clear, as a little experience will teach you.
To make Apricot Jam.
Pare the apricots, take out the stones, break them, take out the kernels and blanch them; then, to every pound of apricots boil one pound of sugar, till it blows very strong; put in the apricots, and boil them very brisk, till they are all broke; take them off, bruise them well, put in the kernels, and stir them all together over the fire; then fill your pots or glasses with them.
Another Way.
Provide some fine rich apricots, cut them in thin pieces, and infuse them in an earthen pot till they are tender and dry; put a pound of double refined sugar, and three spoonfuls of water to every pound and an half of apricots; then boil your sugar to a candy height, and put it upon your apricots; set them over a slow fire, and stir them till they appear clear and thick; but they must only simmer, not boil; then put them in your glasses.
To make Raspberry Jam.
Press out the water from the raspberries, and to every pound of raspberries take one pound of sugar; first dry the raspberries in a pan over the fire, but keep them stirring lest they burn; put in your sugar, incorporate them well together, and fill your glasses or pots, covering them with thin white paper close to the jam, whilst it is hot, when cold tie them over with other paper.
Another Way.
Take a quart of currant jelly, and two quarts of ripe, but sound raspberries, bruise them well together over a slow fire, boil it six or seven minutes, keep stirring all the time; pour it in your gallipots, and paper it as your do the currant jelly.
To make a fine Raspberry Jam.
Take raspberries full ripe, bruise them fine, add a gill of the juice of currants, pass them through a sieve, to take out all the seeds; to every pound of pulp put a pound of double refined sugar pounded, boil it to a proper thickness, put it into small pots or glasses, paper it down according to the receipt for currant jelly, and keep it in a dry place: if you perceive it does not keep, boil it again and add some more sugar to it.
Another Way.
Gather your raspberries when they are ripe and dry, pick them very carefully from the stalks and dead ones, crush them in a bowl with a silver or wooden spoon, (pewter is apt to turn them to a purple colour); as soon as you have crushed them, strew in their weight of loaf sugar, and half their own weight of currant juice, baked and strained as for jelly; then set them over a clear slow fire, boil them half an hour, skim them well, and keep stirring them at the time, then put them into pots or glasses, with brandy papers over them, and keep them for use.
- Note.—As soon as you have got your berries, strew in your sugar: do not let them stand long before you boil them, it will preserve their flavour.
To make Cherry Jam.
Take six pounds of cherries, stone them into four pounds of loaf sugar, and let them stand till the sugar is dissolved; then set them on the fire to boil very fast; when you find them stiff, shake in half a pound of sugar more, let it boil till it comes clear from the bottom of your preserving pan, and then it is enough.
Another Way.
Stone some cherries, boil them well, and break them; take them off the fire, let the juice run from them; to three pounds of cherries boil together half a pint of red currant juice, and half a pound of loaf sugar; put in the cherries as they boil, sift in three quarters of a pound of sugar; boil the cherries very fast for more than half an hour; when cold, put on brandy paper.
To make Strawberry Jam.
Take some of the finest scarlet strawberries, gathered when they are full ripe, pick them from the stalks, put some juice of strawberries to them, beat and sift their weight in double-refined sugar, and strew it over them: put them into a preserving pan, set them over a slow fire, boil them twenty minutes, and skim them; then put them in glasses, when cold put brandy-paper on them.
To make Black Currant Jam.
Gather your currants when they are full ripe on a dry day, pick them from the stalks, then bruise them well in a bowl, and to every pound of currants put a pound of double refined sugar beaten and sifted, put them into a preserving pan, boil them half an hour, skim and keep them stirring all the time, then put them into pots; when cold, put brandy-paper over, and tie white paper over all.
To make green Gooseberry Jam.
Before they are ripe, but at the full growth, take the green gooseberries; pick out the seeds, green them, as directed for green hops; then drain them, beat them in a mortar with their weight of sugar; take a pint of gooseberries, boil them in a pint of water, then squeeze them, and to every half pint of liquor, put three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar; boil and skim it well, throw in your gooseberries, let them boil till thick, green and clear, put in glasses, to use them.
Another Way.
Take some large full grown green gooseberries, but not too ripe; cut them in half, take out the seeds; put them in a pan of cold spring water, lay some vine leaves at the bottom, then some gooseberries, then vine leaves, till the fruit is in the pan; cover it very close that no steam can evaporate, and set them on a very slow fire; when they are scalding hot, take them off; then set them on, and take them off again; they must be done so till they are of a good green; lay them on a sieve to drain, beat them in a marble mortar with their weight in sugar; then take a quarter of water, and a quart of gooseberries, boil them to a mash, squeeze them; to every pint of this liquor, put a pound of fine loaf sugar, boil and skim it; then put in the green gooseberries, let them boil till they are thick and clear, and of a good green.