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Greengages, Preserved in Syrup

Greengages preserved in a boiled sugar and water syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Greengages, Preserved in Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup and cook the fruit

  1. Boil the sugar and water together for about 10 minutes.

  2. Remove the stones from the greengages and add the fruit to the syrup.

  3. Simmer gently until nearly tender.

  4. Remove from heat and transfer to a large pan.

Second boil and jar

  1. The next day, boil the mixture again for about 10 minutes with the blanched kernels from the stones.

  2. Skim the syrup well during both boilings for clarity.

  3. Carefully place the fruit into jars and pour the syrup over it.

  4. Once cooled, cover the jars tightly to exclude air.

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Greengages
The main fruit, which softens in the syrup and takes on its sweet flavour.
Loaf sugar
Sweetens the fruit and, at high concentration, helps preserve it.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until nearly tender. Gentle heat lets the fruit soften while keeping its skins intact. Vigorous boiling tends to split the skins and break the fruit apart, leaving it ragged rather than whole.

“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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