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Dessert

Citron Preserves

Citron preserves are made by boiling citron rind, cooling, then cooking with sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Citron Preserves

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the rind

  1. Prepare the citron rind in your desired form.

  2. Boil it hard in water for 30 to 40 minutes.

  3. Remove from water and place in clear cold water; let stand overnight.

  4. In the morning, change the water and boil again until the rind changes color and becomes soft.

Make the preserves

  1. Make a syrup with 1½ pounds of sugar for every pound of fruit.

  2. Add the fruit to the syrup and cook a little longer if needed.

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

Citron rind
Forms the body of the preserves and becomes tender and translucent after repeated boiling.
White sugar
Sweetens the preserves and, at high concentration, helps preserve the fruit and give it a glossy texture.

The step that matters

Boiling until soft. The rind must be boiled again after soaking until it changes color and becomes soft. Stopping early leaves it tough, because the pectin and cell structure of the rind only soften fully with sustained heat.

“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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