Directions for Preserves and Jellies
Ingredients
Directions
Make jelly
Heat equal parts of fruit juice and sugar separately.
Boil them together for 20 minutes.
Make jam
Combine equal parts of fruit pulp and sugar.
Boil until thick, stirring constantly.
Test thickness by placing a small amount on ice.
Make canned preserves
Boil sugar with water, adding more water as needed.
Skim carefully.
Add fruit to the syrup.
Boil until tender.
Can and seal
Fill cans with boiling hot preserves.
Seal immediately.
Lay them on their side.
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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and, as it concentrates by boiling, helps the jelly or jam set.
- Fruit juice
- Forms the liquid and flavour base of the jelly.
- Fruit pulp
- Supplies the fruit body and flavour of the jam.
- Fruit
- Is cooked tender in the syrup to become the preserved fruit.
The step that matters
Boil until thick, then test on ice. Jelly and jam set only when enough sugar is concentrated by boiling and the fruit's natural pectin is present. Stopping too early leaves the mixture runny; boiling too long makes it stiff, dull, or scorched. The cold-plate test shows when it is ready.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.