Culinary Chemistry / The Scientific Principles of Cookery, with Concise Instructions for Preparing Good and Wholesome Pickles, Vinegar, Conserves, Fruit Jellies, Marmalades, and Various Other Alimentary Substances Employed in Domestic Economy, with Observations on the Chemical Constitution and Nutritive Qualities of Different Kinds of Food.

by Friedrich Christian Accum

PINE APPLE MARMALADE.

Cut the fruit into small pieces, pound it in a mortar, and pass the mass through a coarse splinter sieve; weigh the pulp, and add to every pound three-quarters of a pound of powdered loaf sugar, and six ounces of water, and simmer it as before described.

APRICOT MARMALADE.

Boil ripe apricots in water till they can be crushed between the fingers, then take them out, extract the stones, reduce the fruit to a pulp, and pass the mass through a sieve; weigh the pulp, and to every pound take three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar; simmer it till it hangs on the spoon, like a stiff jelly. Quince marmalade may be prepared in a like manner.

FRUIT JELLIES

Are compounds of the juices of fruits combined with sugar, concentrated by boiling to such a consistence, that the liquid, upon cooling, assumes the form of a tremulous glue.

In the preparation of jellies, care must be taken not to boil it too long, as it looses by this means the property of gelatinising, and assumes the form of mucilage, the danger of this is greatest when the quantity of sugar is too small to absorb the water of the juice.

Fruit jellies should not be kept in glazed earthenware pots, because they act, or dissolve a portion of the glaze. They should (and all other comfitures) be covered with paper dipped in brandy, and the pots should be tied over with paper.

CURRANT JELLY.

Mash the currants, and pass them through a splinter sieve, put the pulp on the fire, stir it with a spoon till it begins to boil, then strain the mass through a flannel bag to render the juice clear; measure it, and to a pint put one pound and a half of loaf sugar, and let it simmer very gently, till you see, by dipping a spoon or skimmer in the jelly, and again raising it, the jelly forms a web upon it, which, if simmered enough, will remain on the skimmer. Then take it off the fire, let it stand a few minutes till the scum has collected on the surface, remove it and put the clear fluid into pots. When quite cold, cut pieces of writing paper to the size of the brim of the pots, steep the paper in brandy and place it on the jelly.