This section is from the book "The Illustrated London Cookery Book", by Frederick Bishop. See also: How to Cook Everything.
Choose your fruit of a nice shape, and good size, cut them in halves, lay them on a large shallow dish, strew powdered sugar over them, and put them in a moderate oven tightly closed; in half an hour's time take them out, and place the plums one by one on glass plates to dry.
Gather the plums when full grown and just turning colour; prick and put them into a saucepan of cold water, set them on the fire until the water is on the point of boiling; then take them out, drain and boil them well in some clarified sugar, let them settle and then boil again; if they shrink and will not take the sugar prick them as they lie in the pan and then give them another boil, skim and set them by; the next day add some more sugar, boiled to souffle to the fruit, any syrup; then put them together, place them in a stove till next day, then drain the plums from the syrup, sprinkle a little powdered sugar over, and dry them in a stove.
 
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