Preserves
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Ensure all equipment is clean and dry.
Do not place the preserving pan flat on the fire; use a trestle or lowered bar.
Cook the fruit
Add sugar to the fruit and stir gently at first, then more quickly towards the end.
Remove scum as it rises during cooking.
Boil fruit gently until softened to absorb sugar, then pour on a thin syrup.
Make the syrup
Use half the weight of sugar initially, boiled with a pint of water for each pound of sugar for 15-20 minutes.
Add remaining sugar each time the syrup is reboiled.
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
- Fruit
- Provides the flavour and body of the preserve, and its natural pectin helps it set.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the preserve and, at high concentration, draws water out of the fruit to help preserve it.
The step that matters
Add the sugar gently at first. Stirring hard while the sugar is added can break the softening fruit. Adding sugar gradually and stirring gently lets it dissolve evenly and draw moisture out of the fruit without scorching.
“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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