Remarks:—(1) The addition of red-currant juice is advocated for this jam, seeing that by ensuring the proper consistence it obviates prolonged cooking; and, as I have already pointed out, red fruit is all the better, and preserves a more perfect colour, when it is cooked rapidly.
(2) When the fruit begins to boil, carefully skim it, otherwise the scum hardens, and not only spoils the jam but often sets it fermenting.
[2958—STRAWBERRY JAM]
This is one of the most difficult jams to make. There are several ways of preparing it, and the one I give strikes me as the quickest and simplest. Clean the fruit, which should be just ripe. Only wash it when absolutely necessary, as, for instance, when mould has stuck to it.
Allow twelve oz. of sugar per lb. of fruit. Put this sugar in a preserving pan, sprinkle it with water that it may dissolve, and cook it to the large-ball stage (see No. [2344]), taking care to skim thoroughly when boiling begins. Throw the strawberries into the sugar, and set the preserving pan on the side of the fire for seven or eight minutes; that is to say, until the moisture of the fruit has dissolved the sugar to a syrup.
Return the saucepan to a fierce fire, and cook the strawberries for ten or twelve minutes, remembering to carefully remove the scum that forms.
Then withdraw the strawberries by means of a slice and drain them in a basin. Continue cooking the syrup rapidly, until the “[nappe]” stage shows signs of appearing, then return the [823] ]strawberries for five minutes; that is to say, until the “[nappe]” stage is completely reached.
Fill the pots, little by little, that the strawberries may be well distributed in them and not rise in a mass to the top, as often happens when the receptacles are filled too quickly.
[2959—ORANGE MARMALADE]
Select some oranges about equal in size, of a good colour, free from blemishes, and with thick and soft rinds. The latter consideration is important, seeing that the parboiling operation is effected more perfectly when the rinds are thick and supple.