In the late spring, when cooking apples have lost much of their flavor and acidity, an appetizing sauce may be made by stewing them with diluted boiled cider, using 1 cupful of cider to 3 of water.
CIDER PEAR SAUCE.
Cooking pears may be preserved in boiled cider the same as sweet apples. If one prefers the sauce less sour, 1 pint of sugar may be added to each quart of boiled cider.
METHODS OF MAKING JELLY.
In no department of preserving does the housekeeper feel less sure of the result than in jelly making. The rule that works perfectly one time fails another time. Why this is so the average housekeeper does not know; so there is nearly always an element of uncertainty as to the result of the work. These two questions are being constantly asked: "Why does not my jelly harden?" "What causes my jelly to candy?"
It is an easy matter to say that there is something in the condition of the fruit, or that the fruit juice and sugar were cooked too short or too long a time. These explanations are often true; but they do not help the inquirer, since at other times just that proportion of sugar and time of cooking have given perfect jelly. In the following pages an attempt is made to give a clear explanation of the principles underlying the process of jelly making. It is believed that the women who study this carefully will find the key to unvarying success in this branch of preserving.
PECTIN, PECTOSE, PECTASE.
In all fruits, when ripe or nearly so, there is found pectin, a carbohydrate somewhat similar in its properties to starch. It is because of this substance in the fruit juice that we are able to make jelly. When equal quantities of sugar and fruit juice are combined and the mixture is heated to the boiling point for a short time, the pectin in the fruit gelatinizes the mass.
It is important that the jelly maker should understand when this gelatinizing agent is at its best. Pectose and pectase always exist in the unripe fruit. As the fruit ripens the pectase acts upon the pectose, which is insoluble in water, converting it into pectin, which is soluble. Pectin is at its best when the fruit is just ripe or a little before. If the juice ferments, or the cooking of the jelly is continued too long, the pectin undergoes a change and loses its power of gelatinizing. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that the fruit should be fresh, just ripe or a little underripe, and that the boiling of the sugar and juice should not be continued too long.
Fruits vary as to the quantities of sugar, acid, pectin, and gums in their composition. Some of the sour fruits contain more sugar than do some of the milder-flavored fruits. Currants, for example, often contain four or five times as much sugar as the peach. The peach does not contain so much free acid and it does contain a great deal of pectin bodies, which mask the acid; hence, the comparative sweetness of the ripe fruit.