FoodNetArchive

Cassell's dictionary of cookery

1892

Page 443 · 3 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1892. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
Take some fine ripo red or white currants ; let them be gathered on a dry day, and be sure that they are fresh and free from dirt. Strip them from the stalks, and weigh them with an equal weight of finely- pounded loaf sugaCurrant Jam, Red and Whiter. Let them remain on the fire exactly nine minutes after boiling. Pour t]ie jam into jars, and cover it with brandied papers, and put over these tissue-paper dipped in gum. There is no economy in using a smaller jirdji. r'ion of sugar, as the jam lejuires to bi i; so lanvh longer that the quantity is reduced sufficiently to make the difference. Probable cost, when plentiful, 4d. per quart. Sufficient, one pint of fruit for one pound and a quarter of jam. Currant Jelly, Black.— Draw the juice from some fine ripe black currants. In order to do this, put them, as we have told already {see Currant Custard), into an earthen jar, cover this closely, put it in a pan of cold water, and boil the fiiiit gently until the juice is ex- Strain it through a jelly-bag, but do not press it, and boil it for twenty minutes. Add three-quarters of a pound of sugar to every pint of juice, and boil ten minutes longer. If the jelly becomes firm when a spoonfid is put on a plate it is boiled enough ; if not, boil a little longer. Put it into small jars and cover closely, first with brandied papers and afterwards with gummed tissue-paper. If a larger proportion of sugar were added it would jelly sooner, but it would then be too luscious to bo agTceablo in sickness. If the juice is not pressed from the currants, the latter, with the addition of a little sugar and water, will boil into a jam fit to be used for kitchen and nursery puddings, but it will not keep long. Probable cost of currants, 4d. per quart. About one pint of juice may be obtained from two quarts of fruit. Currant Jelly, Red.— Red currant jelly may bo made in tlie same way as black, re- membering only that one pound of sugar will be required for one pint of juiceCurrant Jelly, Red. The flavour may bo improved by the addition of a few raspberries, and both the flavour and colour if one pint of white currants is used with three of red. When straining the juice the fruit nmst not be pressed or the jelly wiU not be clear. Some prefer to sweeten red currant jelly by pounding loaf sugar very finely, and making it quite hot in the oven, taking care that it is not in the least dis- coloured ; then mixing it with the juice which, thougli hot, must not boil until the sugar is dissolved. Be careful to use cither a silver or a wooden spoon in making jelly ; with any other the flavour will be spoilt. The jelly may be made very stiff by adding half an ounce of isinglass to each pint of juice. The isinglass should be dissolved in a little of the juice, and put in with the sugar. Time, about two houi-s to express the juice. Probable cost of currants, 4d. per quart. Three pints of fruit will pro- bably yield one jnnt of juice.