Most of the fruits are first prepared by being blanched, that is, boiled in water; they are then drained and put into boiling syrup, where they remain for a day. The syrup being now weakened with the juice of the fruit, it is poured off, more sugar is added, and it is reduced again to syrup by boiling, and poured hot over the fruit: this is continued until it is fully saturated with sugar, which may be known by the syrup being no longer weakened with the juice of the fruit. Keep them in a dry but not warm place, as too much heat will cause them to ferment, more especially if they are not fully incorporated with sugar; nor in a damp place, or they will become mouldy.

All green fruits require to be greened, so as to bring them to their original colour, for in blanching they assume a yellowish cast: this is probably occasioned by a portion of the alkali being extracted in the boiling. The green colour of fruits and leaves depends upon an excess of alkali; and in proportion as acid or alkali prevails in them, so are they coloured from red to violet, blue, and green; therefore if alkali is added to the water, the colour is retained. This is exemplified in the everyday domestic duties of the cook, who uses soda, potash, or muriate of soda (common salt), in boiling her greens or cabbages. I have here stated the principle on which their colour depends, to show that there is no necessity for green fruits being kept for some time in brass or copper pans, whereby they take up a portion of verdigris, which often proves injurious.

Prick your fruit several times with a fork or large needle, to allow the sugar to penetrate the more freely. As you do them, throw them into a pan of cold water, which prevents their turning black at the places where they are pricked; add a little soda or potash, and set the pan by the side of the stove to heat gradually, but not to boil, or at the most only to simmer; when the fruit swims, take it out with a skimmer and put it into cold water; if they are not green enough, drain them and put them again into the water they were first boiled in, or else into a weak syrup; place them by the side of the stove to heat gradually as before, stirring them occasionally. They may be covered with vine leaves, or a handful of spinach; if salt is used in greening them, they will require to be soaked for a few hours in clean cold water, to again extract that portion which they have absorbed, or it will spoil their flavour. It is best to blanch fruits which are very juicy in hard or pump water, or with the addition of a little alum to river water.