To Dry Cherries or Damsons
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the syrup and fruit
Pick the fruit from the stem and weigh it.
In a kettle, combine the sugar with enough water to dissolve it.
Boil the sugar mixture and skim off any scum.
Add the fruit to the kettle and bring to a boil.
Carefully remove the scum from the top.
Soak the fruit
Pour the mixture into a jar and let it sit for three days.
After three days, boil the syrup again and pour it hot over the fruit in the jar.
Let it sit for another three days.
Dry and store
Remove the fruit from the jar and dry it in the hot sun or in a 350°F (175°C) oven, stirring occasionally.
Once dry, store the fruit in paper bags in a dry place for winter pies.
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
- Cherries or damsons
- Provide the fruit that softens in syrup and dries into chewy, concentrated pieces.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and draws water out of the fruit, helping it keep as it dries.
The step that matters
Pouring the syrup hot over the fruit. Hot syrup dissolves sugar more fully and penetrates fruit more readily than cool syrup, so the fruit absorbs the sugar more evenly during the soak.
“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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