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Green Gages Preserved in Syrup

Green gages preserved in clarified sugar syrup.

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

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gages

  1. Take the gages when nearly ripe and cut the stalks about ½ inch from the fruit.

  2. Soak them in cold water with ½ cup of alum until ready.

  3. Heat them on a slow fire until they simmer.

  4. Remove them from heat and place them in cold water.

  5. Pack the gages tightly in a preserving pan.

  6. Pour enough clarified sugar over them to cover.

  7. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.

  8. Set aside in an earthen pan until the next day.

  9. Drain the gages.

Make the syrup and pack

  1. Boil the syrup with more sugar until thick.

  2. Add the gages back to the syrup.

  3. Simmer for 3 more minutes.

  4. Boil clarified sugar until it reaches a blow stage.

  5. Place the gages in glasses.

  6. Pour the syrup over them.

  7. Cover with a bladder.

  8. Cover with leather.

  9. Drain them.

  10. Dry them on a wire sieve in a slow oven.

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

Green gages
The fruit itself; cooking softens its flesh so it absorbs the sugar syrup.
Clarified sugar
Forms the syrup that sweetens the fruit and preserves it by drawing out moisture.
Alum
Firms the fruit's flesh so it holds its shape during simmering and syruping.

The step that matters

Boil the syrup until it reaches a blow stage. Syrup must reach the right concentration to preserve the fruit; too little boiling leaves it thin and prone to spoiling, while overboiling makes it hard and sugary.

“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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