# The Virginia Housewife: or, Methodical Cook/Preserves

The preserving pan should be made of bell metal, fiat at the bottom, very large in diameter, but not deep. It should have a cover to fit closely, and handles at the sides of the pan, for taking it off with ease when the syrup boils too fast. There should also be a large chafing-dish with long legs, for the convenience of moving it to any part of the room. The process is a tedious one; and if the superintendent be not comfortably situated, the preserves cannot be properly managed. A ladle the size of a saucer, pierced and having a long handle, will be necessary for taking up the fruit without syrup. When a chafing-dish cannot be procured, the best substitute is a brick stove, with a grating, to burn charcoal. The sugar should be the best double refined; but if the pure amber coloured sugar house syrup from the West Indies can be got, it is greatly superior; it never ferments, and the trouble is very much lessened by having ready made syrup, ​in which it is only necessary to boil the fruit till clear. All delicate fruit should be done gently, and not allowed to remain more than half an hour after it begins to stew, before it is laid on dishes to cool; it must be put into the syrup again for the same time; continue this until it is sufficiently transparent. The advantage of this method is that the preserves are less liable to boil to pieces, than when done all at one time. It is injudicious to put more in the pan at once, than can lie on the bottom without crowding. The pan must be made bright, and nothing permitted to cool in it, lest it should canker. Delicate preserves should be kept in small glasses or pots, that will not hold more than one or two pounds, for the admission of air injures them; put letter paper wet with brandy on the preserves, and cover the tops with many folds of soft paper, that will tie round closely; keep them in a dry place, and expose them constantly to the sun to check fermentation. Fruit for preserving should be in full perfection, but not too ripe.
TO PRESERVE CLING-STONE PEACHES.
Get the finest yellow cling-stones, pare them, and lay them in a bowl; have their weight of sugar pounded, and sprinkle it over them as they are put in; let them stand two or three hours, put them together with the sugar into the pan, add a little water, and let the peaches remain till thoroughly scalded; take them out with the ladle, draining off the syrup; should there not be enough to cover the peaches, add more water, boil it and skim it, return the fruit, and do them gently till quite clear. Have some stones cracked, blanch the kernels, and preserve them with the peaches.
CLING-STONES SLICED.
Pare the peaches, and cut them in as large slices as possible; have their weight in sugar, and preserve them as the others.
SOFT PEACHES.
Get yellow soft peaches that are not quite ripe, pare and divide them, scrape the places where the stones lay with a tea-spoon, and follow the former directions.
PEACH MARMALADE.
Take the ripest soft peaches, (the yellow ones make the prettiest marmalade,) pare them, and take out the stones; put them in the pan with one pound of dry light coloured brown sugar to two of peaches: when they are juicy, they do not require water: with a silver or wooden spoon, chop them with the sugar; continue to do this, and let them boil gently till they are a transparent pulp, that will be a jelly when cold. Puffs made of this marmalade are very delicious.
PEACH CHIPS.
Slice them thin, and boil them till clear in a syrup made with half their weight of sugar; lay them on dishes in the sun, and turn them till dry; pack them in pots with powdered sugar sifted over each layer; should there be syrup left, continue the process with other peaches. They are very nice when done with pure honey instead of sugar.
PEARS.
The small pears are better for preserving than large ones. Pare them, and make a syrup, with their weight of sugar, and a little water—leave the stem on, and stick a clove in the blossom end of each; stew them till perfectly transparent.
PEAR MARMALADE.
Boil the pears till soft—when cold, rub the pulp through a sieve, and boil it to a jelly, allowing one pound of sugar to two of pears.
QUINCES.
Select the finest and most perfect quinces, lay them on shelves, but do not let them touch each other; keep them till they look yellow and have a fragrant smell; put as many in the preserving pan as can lie conveniently, cover them with water, and scald them well: then take out the cores, and put them in water; cover the pan and boil them some time; strain the water, add to it the weight of the quinces in pounded loaf sugar, dissolve and skim it, pare the quinces, put them in the pan, and should there not be syrup enough to cover them, add more water—stew them till quite transparent. They will be light coloured if kept covered during the process, and red if the cover be taken off. Fill the space the cores occupied with quince jelly, before they are put into the pots—and cover them with syrup.
CURRANT JELLY.
Pick full ripe currants from the stem, and put them in a stone pot; then set it in an iron pot of water—take care that no water gets in: when the currants have yielded their juice, pour them into a jelly bag—let it run as long as it will without pressing, which must be reserved for the best jelly; you may then squeeze the bag to make inferior kind. To each pint of this juice, put one pound of loaf sugar powdered—boil it fifteen or twenty minutes—skim it clean, and put it in glasses; expose them daily to the sun to prevent fermentation.
QUINCE JELLY.
Prepare the quinces as before directed, take off the stems and blossoms, wash them clean, and cut them in slices without paring; fill the pan, and pour in water to cover them—stew them gently, putting in a little water occasionally till they are soft; then pour them into a jelly bag; let all the liquor run through without pressing it, which must be set aside for the best jelly; to each pint of this, put a pound of loaf sugar pounded, and boil it to a jelly. The bag may be squeezed for an inferior, but a very nice jelly.
QUINCE MARMALADE.
Boil the quinces in water until soft, let them cool, and rub all the pulp through a sieve: put two pounds of it to one of sugar, pound a little cochineal, sift it through fine muslin, and mix it with the quince to give a colour; pick out the seeds, tie them in a muslin bag, and boil them with the marmalade: when it is a thick jelly, take out the seeds, and put it in pots.
CHERRIES.
The most beautiful cherries to preserve, are the carnation and common light red, with short stems; select the finest that are not too ripe; take an equal weight with the cherries of double refined sugar, make it into a syrup, and preserve them without stoning, and with the stems on; if they be done carefully, and the “Directions for preserving” closely attended to, the stems will not come off, and they will be so transparent that the stones may be seen.
MORELLO CHERRIES.
Take out the stones with a quill over a deep dish, to save the juice that runs from them; put to the juice a pound of sugar for each pound of cherries, weighed after they are stoned; boil and skim the syrup, then put in the fruit, and stew till quite clear.
TO DRY CHERRIES.
Stone them, and save the juice: weigh the cherries, and allow one pound of good brown sugar to three of the fruit; boil it with the juice, put the cherries in, stew them fifteen or twenty minutes, take them out, drain off the syrup, and lay the cherries in dishes to dry in the sun; keep the syrup to pour over a little at a time, as it dries on the cherries, which must be frequently turned over; when all the syrup is used, put the cherries away in pots, sprinkling a little powdered loaf sugar between the layers. They make excellent pies, puddings, and charlottes.
RASPBERRY JAM.
To each pound of ripe red or English raspberries, put one pound of loaf sugar—stir it frequently, and stew till it is a thick jelly.
TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES.
Get the largest strawberries before they are too ripe; have the best loaf sugar, one pound to each of strawberries—stew them very gently, taking them out to cool frequently, that they may not be mashed; when they look clear, they are done enough.
STRAWBERRY JAM
Is made in the same manner as the raspberry, and is very fine to mix with cream for blanc mange, puffs, sweetmeat puddings, &c. &c.
GOOSEBERRIES.
Select young gooseberries, make a syrup with one pound of loaf sugar to each of fruit; stew them till quite clear and the syrup becomes thick, but do not let them be mashed. They are excellent made into tarts—do not cover the pan while they are stewing.
APRICOTS IN BRANDY.
Take freshly gathered apricots not too ripe; to half their weight of loaf sugar, add as much water as will cover the fruit; boil and skim it: then put in the apricots, and let them remain five or six minutes; take them up without syrup, and lay them on dishes to cool; boil the syrup till reduced one half; when the apricots are cold, put them in bottles, and cover them ​with equal quantities of syrup and French brandy. If the apricots be cling-stones, they will require more scalding.
PEACHES IN BRANDY.
Get yellow soft peaches, perfectly free from defect and newly gathered, but not too ripe; place them in a pot, and cover them with cold weak lye; turn over those that float frequently, that the lye may act equally on them; at the end of an hour take them out, wipe them carefully with a soft cloth to get off the down and skin, and lay them in cold water; make a syrup as for the apricots, and proceed in the same manner, only scald the peaches more.
CHERRIES IN BRANDY.
Get the short stemmed bright red cherries in bunches—make a syrup, with equal quantities of sugar and cherries; scald the cherries, but do not let the skins crack, which they will do if the fruit be too ripe.
MAGNUM BONUM PLUMS IN BRANDY.
Select those that are free from blemish—make a syrup with half their weight of sugar, and preserve them in the same manner directed for apricots—green gages. The large amber, and the blue plums, are also excellent, done in the same way.