Preliminary Hints And Observations

IN making syrups for preserves, take care to pound your sugar, and let it dissolve in the syrup before you set it on the fire, as it will make the scum rise well, and your syrup will be of a better colour. It is a great fault to boil any kind of syrups or jellies too high, as it makes them dark and cloudy. Never keep green sweetmeats longer in the first syrup than directed, as it will spoil their colour; and the same precaution will be necessary in the preserving oranges and lemons. When you preserve cherries, damsons, or any other sort of stone-fruits, put over them mutton suet rendered, to keep oat the air; for if any air gets to them, it will give them a sour taste, and spoil the whole. Wet sweetmeats must be kept in a dry and cool place; for a damp place will mould them, and a hot place will deprive them of their virtue. It is a good method to dip writing-paper into brandy, and lay it close to the sweetmeats. They should be tied well down with white paper, and two folds of cap-paper, to keep out the air, as nothing can be a greater fault than leaving the pots open, or tying them down carelessly.

Gooseberries Preserved Whole

Take the largest gooseberries, and .pick off the black eye, but not the stalk ; set them over the fire in a pot of water to scald, but take care they do not boil, for that will break and spoil them: when tender, take them up and put them into cold water. Then take a pound and a half of double-refined sugar to a pound of gooseberries, and clarify the sugar with water, a pint to a pound.of sugar. When the syrup is cold, put the gooseberries singly into the preserving pan put the syrup to them, and set them on a gentle fire. Let them boil, but not so fast as to break thorn ; and when they have boiled, and the sugar has entered them, take them off, cover them with white paper, and set them by till the next day. Then take them out of the syrup, and boil the syrup till it begins to be ropy. Skim it, and put it to them again. Then set them on a gentle fire, and let them simmer gently till the syrup will rope. Then take them off, set them by till they are cold, and cover them with brandy-paper. Then boil some gooseberries in water, and when the liquor is strong enough, strain it out. Let it stand to settle, and to every pint take a pound of double refined sugar, and make a jelly of it. When the gooseberries are cold, put them in glasses, cover them with the jelly, and close them down properly.

Green Gooseberries, In Imitation Of Hops

Take the largest green walnut gooseberries, and cut them at the stalk-end in four quarters. Leave them whole at the blossom end, take out all the seeds and put five or six one in another. Take a needleful of strong thread, with a large knot at the end ; run the needle through the bunch of gooseberries, tie a knot to fasten them together, and they will resemble hops. Put cold spring-water into the pan, with a large handful of vine-Jeaves at the bottom ; then three or four layers of gooseberries, with plenty of vine-leaves between every layer, and over the top of the pan. Cover it so that no steam can get out, and set them on a slow fire. Then take them off as soon as they are scalding hot, and let them stand till cold. Then set them on again till they are of a good green; take them off, and let them stand till quite cold. Put them into a sieve to drain, and make a thin syrup thus : To every pint of water put in a pound of common loaf sugar; boil, and skim it well. When about half cold, put in the gooseberries, and let them stand till the next day. Then give them one boil a day for three days Then make a syrup thus : To every pint of water put in a pound of fine sugar, a slice of ginger, and a lemon peel cut lengthways exceedingly fine. Boil and skim it well, give the gooseberries a boil in it, and when cold, put them into glasses or pots, lay brandy-paper over them, and tie them up close.