Woman's Institute Library of Cookery. Volume 5: Fruit and Fruit Desserts; Canning and Drying; Jelly Making, Preserving and Pickling; Confections; Beverages; the Planning of Meals

by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

RECIPES FOR JELLY

38. Recipes for the kinds of jelly usually made are here given. If the directions given in the procedure for jelly making are thoroughly mastered and then applied to these recipes, the housewife will experience very little difficulty in making any of these varieties. Other jellies may, without doubt, be made by combining the proper fruits. All that has to be done in order to determine whether a certain fruit juice or combination of fruit juices will make jelly is to apply the test for pectin already explained. Whatever quantity of jelly is desired may be made, but usually it can be handled best if not more than 6 glassfuls are made at one time.

39. CRAB-APPLE JELLY.--Crab apples are much used for jelly, as they make a product of good consistency and excellent flavor. Apples may be used in the same way as crab apples with equally good results.

Wash the apples thoroughly, remove the stems, and cut into quarters. Make sure that the apples contain no worms. Put them into a kettle, add about half as much water as apples, and cook slowly until the apples are soft. Strain the juice through a jelly bag. Before it stops dripping, return the pulp to the kettle, add half as much water as pulp, and allow the fruit to cook again. Make a second extraction, and in the same way make a third one. Then combine the juice, and strain all of it through a bag to make it clear. Measure 6 or 8 cupfuls of juice, and pour it into a preserving kettle. Boil for about 5 minutes, straining off the scum that rises to the top. To each cupful of juice, add 3/4 to 1 cupful of sugar that has been heated. Crab apples will require 1 cupful of sugar, but apples milder in flavor will not need more than 3/4 cupful. Boil until the test shows that it has boiled long enough. Pour into hot glasses, cool, and seal. Label and then store for later use.

40. CURRANT JELLY.--If jelly having a tart flavor is desired, currant jelly should be tried. This kind of jelly is especially good to serve with the heavy course of a meal.

Wash and stem the currants. Put them into a kettle and add about one-fourth as much water as currants. Boil until the currants are reduced to a pulp. Pour into a jelly bag and strain. Make at least one more extraction, and a third extraction if there is a fairly large quantity of pulp. When all the juice has been strained from the pulp, strain it again through the bag or a heavy cloth. Measure 6 or 8 cupfuls of juice into a kettle, boil for about 5 minutes, and then add from three-fourths to an equal amount of heated sugar. Remove the scum as it forms, taking off as much as possible before the sugar is added. Continue to boil until the tests show that the mixture has cooked sufficiently. Remove from the heat and pour into hot glasses. Cool, seal, label, and store.

41. GRAPE JELLY.--Thoroughly ripe grapes may be used for jelly, but they are not so satisfactory for this purpose as grapes that are only partly ripe. This is due to the fact that green grapes contain more pectin and, upon being cooked, produce fewer of the cream-of-tartar crystals usually found in grape jelly than do ripe ones. The procedure for grape jelly is the same as that for currant jelly. If ripe grapes are used, 3/4 cupful of sugar will be needed to each cupful of juice; but if only partly ripe grapes are used, 1 cupful of sugar will be required for every cupful of juice.

42. QUINCE JELLY.--Because of its attractive color and delicate flavor, quince jelly is much favored. The quinces may be used alone, but if a still more delicate flavor is desired, apples may be added to the quinces, or the parings and cores of the quinces may be used with apples or crab apples. To make quince jelly, proceed in the same way as for apple jelly, using 3/4 cupful of sugar to 1 cupful of juice.

43. RASPBERRY JELLY.--Either black or red raspberries may be used for jelly making. To give jelly made from these fruits a better consistency, a small quantity of green grape, crab-apple, or currant juice should be added. The procedure in this case is the same as for currant jelly.

44. STRAWBERRY JELLY.--Unripe strawberries contain a small amount of pectin, but thoroughly ripe ones are almost lacking in this respect. For this reason, strawberries cannot be used alone for making jelly. They make a delicious jelly, however, if currants are combined with them. For each 5 or 6 quarts of strawberries, 1 quart of currants will be sufficient to make a jelly of good consistency. Wash and hull the strawberries and then proceed as for currant jelly.

45. PLUM JELLY.--Plums make a jelly that many persons like. If it is desired to use plums alone, those which are not thoroughly ripe should be selected. Ripe plums do not contain enough pectin for jelly; therefore, a fruit high in pectin, such as crab apples, must be added. The procedure for currant jelly should be followed for plum jelly.

46. PEACH JELLY.--Peaches contain so little pectin that it is almost impossible to make jelly of them unless some other fruit is added in rather large quantities. Currants, crab apples, or green grapes may be used with peaches, and whichever one is selected will be needed in the proportion of about 50 per cent.; that is, half as much additional fruit as peaches is needed. In the making of peach jelly, proceed as for currant jelly.

47. CANNING FRUIT JUICES FOR JELLY.--During the canning season, when a great deal of such work is being done, the housewife often feels that making jelly and preserves is an extravagant use of sugar. Still, fruit juices left over from canning and large quantities of fruit, such as crab apples and currants, that are not suitable for other purposes, will be wasted unless they are used for jelly. If it is not convenient to use the fruit at the time it is obtained, a good plan is to extract the juice as for jelly making and then can it. In case this is done, jelly may be made from the juice during the seasons of the year when less sugar is required for other things.

48. To can fruit juice, extract it from the fruit as for jelly making and then bring it to the boiling point. Select bottles or jars that may be tightly closed, sterilize them, fill them with the boiling juice, and seal them. Bottles may be used for this purpose if they are well corked and then dipped into melted sealing wax or paraffin. When properly sealed, fruit juices will probably keep without any further effort to preserve them, but to make positively certain that they will not spoil, it is a wise precaution to process the filled bottles or jars in boiling water for about 6 or 8 minutes in the same way in which canned fruit is processed. When treated in this way, fruit juices will keep perfectly and may be made into jelly at any time during the winter.

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