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Dessert

To Prepare Syrup for Preserves

A syrup made by dissolving sugar in water with Russian isinglass, then boiling until scum is removed, used for preserving fruit.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson." · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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To Prepare Syrup for Preserves

Ingredients

Directions

  1. For each pound of sugar, add one gill of water.

  2. For each twelve pounds of sugar, add half an ounce of Russian isinglass.

  3. Dissolve the isinglass in a little boiling water.

  4. Add the dissolved isinglass to the sugar mixture.

  5. When the mixture is cold, place it on the fire, let it boil, skimming constantly until no more scum rises.

  6. The syrup is then ready for any fruit you may wish to preserve.

By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson.". Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Russian isinglass
Acts as a clarifying agent, helping gather impurities so they can be skimmed off the syrup.
Water
Dissolves the sugar and forms the syrup base.

The step that matters

Skimming the boiling syrup. Scum rises as the syrup heats and contains impurities. Skimming constantly until none rises keeps the syrup clear and prevents off flavors and cloudiness in the preserved fruit.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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