SPINACH GREEN, FOR COLOURING SWEET DISHES, CONFECTIONARY, OR SOUPS.
Pound quite to a pulp, in a marble or Wedgwood mortar, a handful or two of young freshly-gathered spinach, then throw it into a hair sieve, and press through all the juice which can be obtained from it; pour this into a clean white jar, and place it in a pan of water that is at the point of boiling, and which must be allowed only to just simmer afterwards; in three or four minutes the juice will be poached or set: take it then gently with a spoon, and lay it upon the back of a fine sieve to drain. If wanted for immediate use, merely mix it in the mortar with some finely-powdered sugar;[[158]] but if to be kept as a store, pound it with as much as will render the whole tolerably dry, boil it to candy-height over a very clear fire, pour it out in cakes, and keep them in a tin box or canister. For this last preparation consult the receipt for orange-flower candy.
[158]. For soup, dilute it first with a little of the boiling stock, and stir it to the remainder.