Take currants, and squeeze the juice out of them; have some very dry quart bottles, and hold in each a couple of burning matches. Cork them up, to keep the smoke confined in them for a few hours, till the juice is put in them. Fill them to theneck with the currant juice; then scald them in a copper or pot with hay between. The water must be cold when the bottles are put in: let them have one boil.
Boil a pint of currant juice with half a pint of clarified sugar; skim it; add a little lemon to taste, and mix with a quart of seed.
Mash red and white currants; strain them through a linen bag; break in as much of the strained currants as will make the juice thick enough of seeds; add some gooseberries boiled in water. Boil the whole till it jellies; let it stand to cool; then put a pound of sugar to every pint, and scald it.
One quart of cream, twelve eggs, the whites of four, the rind of one lemon, boiled in the cream, with a small quantity of nutmeg, and a bay-leaf, bitter and sweet almonds one ounce each, a little ratafia and orange-flower water; sweeten to your taste. The cream must be quite cold before the eggs are added. When mixed, it must just be made to boil, and then fill your cups.
Take one pint of cream, boil in it a few laurel-leaves, a stick of cinnamon, and the rind of a lemon; when nearly cold, add the yolks of seven eggs, well beaten, and six ounces of lump sugar; let it nearly boil; keep stirring it all the while, and till nearly cold, and add a little brandy.
A quart of cream, and the yolks of nine eggs, sugared to your taste; if eggs are scarce, take seven and three whites; it must not quite boil, or it will curdle; keep it stirred all the time over a slow fire. When it is nearly cold, add three table-spoonfuls of ratafia; stir till cold, otherwise it will turn. It is best without any white of eggs.
Take a pint of cream; blanch a few sweet almonds, and beat them fine; sweeten to your palate. Beat up the yolks of five eggs, stir all together, one way, over the fire, till it is thick. Add laurel-leaves, bitter almonds, or ratafia, to give it a flavour; then put it into cups.
Make some rice, nicely boiled, into a good wall round your trifle dish; strew the rice over with pink comfits; then pourgood custard into the rice frame, and stripe it across with pink and blue comfits alternately.
Blanch and pound fine, with half a gill of rose-water, six ounces of sweet and half an ounce of bitter almonds; boil a pint of milk; sweeten it with two ounces and a half of sugar; rub the almonds through a sieve, with a pint of cream; strain the milk to the yolks of eight eggs, well beaten—three whites if thought necessary—stir it over a fire till of a good thickness; when off the fire, stir it till nearly cold to prevent its curdling.
Take ripe fruit; wipe them dry, and pick off the stalks; fill your bottles with them. The bottles must be very clean and dry. Put the corks lightly into them, to keep out the steam when simmering: then set them up to the necks in cold water, and let them simmer a quarter of an hour, but not boil, or the fruit will crack. Take them out, and let them stand all night. Next day, cork them tight, rosin the corks, and keep them in a dry place.
Pick out the finest damsons, and wipe them clean. To every pound of fruit take half a pound of sugar; wet the damsons with water; and put them into the sugar with the insides downward. Set them on the fire till the sugar is melted; let them lie in the sugar till it has thoroughly penetrated them, heating them once a day. When you take them out, dip them in hot water, and lay them to dry.
When the damsons are quite ripe, wipe them separately, and put them into stone jars. Set them in an oven four or five times after the bread is drawn. When the skins shrivel they are done enough; if they shrink much, you must fill up the jar with more fruit, and cover them at last with melted suet.
Boil beef dripping in water for a few minutes; let it stand till cold, when it will come off in a cake. It makes good crust for the kitchen.
Take of stale bread, suet, and loaf-sugar, half a pound each; make the whole so fine as to go through a sieve. Mix it with lemon-juice, and add the rind of a lemon finely grated.Make it up into dumplings, and pour over them sweet sauce without wine.
A quarter of a pound of apple, a quarter of a pound of currants, three eggs, some sugar, bitter almonds, lemon or orange peel, and a little nutmeg. Boil an hour and a half.
To a piece of fresh butter, of the size of an egg, take three spoonfuls of flour, and three yolks of eggs; stir the butter and eggs well together; add a little salt and nutmeg, and then put the flour to it. Drop the batter with a small spoon into boiling water, and let it boil four or five minutes; pour the water from the dumplings, and eat them with a ragout, or as a dish by itself.
Break two eggs into half a pint of milk, and beat them up; mix with flour, and put a little salt. Set on the fire a saucepan with water, and, when it boils, drop the batter in with a large spoon, and boil them quick for five minutes. Take them out carefully with a slice, lay them on a sieve for a minute to dry, put them into a dish, cut a piece of butter in thin slices, and stir among them. Send them up as hot as you can.
Mix flour and water with a little salt into a stiff paste. Put in a few currants for change, and boil them for half an hour. It improves them much to boil them with beef or pork.
A table-spoonful of yest, three handfuls of flour, mix with water and a little salt. Boil ten minutes in a deep pot, and cover with water when they rise. The dough to be made about the size of an apple. The quantity mentioned above will make a dozen of the proper size.
Make nice light dough, by putting your flour into a platter; make a hollow in the middle of it, and pour in a little good small beer warmed, an egg well beaten, and some warm milk and water. Strew salt upon the flour, but not upon the mixture in the middle, or it will not do well. Then make it into as light a dough as you can, and set it before the fire, covered with a cloth, a couple of hours, to rise. Make it into large dumplings, and set them before the fire six or seven minutes;then put them into boiling water with a little milk in it. A quarter of an hour will do them.
Eggs left till cold will reheat to the same degree as at first. For instance, an egg boiled three minutes and left till cold will reheat in the same time and not be harder. It may be useful to know this when fresh eggs are scarce.
Beat up the whites of twelve eggs with rose-water, some fine grated lemon-peel, and nutmeg; sweeten to your taste, and well mix the whole. Boil it in four bladders, tied up in the shape of an egg, till hard; they will take half an hour. When cold, lay them in a dish; mix half a pint of good cream, a gill of sack, and half the juice of a Seville orange; sweeten and mix it well, and pour it over the eggs.
Beat two whites in a plate in a cool place till quite stiff and they look like snow. Lay it on the lid of a stewpan; put it in a cool oven, and bake it of a light brown for about ten minutes.
Take figs when thoroughly ripe, pare them very thin, and slit them at the top. To one pound of fruit put three quarters of a pound of sugar, and to the sugar a pint of water; boil the syrup at first a little, skim it very clean, and set it over coals to keep it warm. Have ready some warm water, and when it boils put in your figs; let them boil till tender; then take them up by the stalk, and drain them clean from water. Put them into the syrup over the fire for two or three hours, turning them frequently; do the same morning and evening, keeping them warm, for nine days, till you find them begin to candy. Then lay them out upon glasses. Turn them often the first day, on the next twice only; they will quickly dry if they are well attended to. A little ambergris or musk gives the fruit a fine flavour. Peaches and plums may be done the same way.
Take as much fine sugar as you think likely to cover the flowers, and wet it for a candy. When boiled pretty thick, put in your flowers, and stir, but be careful not to bruise them. Keep them over the fire, but do not let them boil till they are pretty dry; then rub the sugar off with your hands as soon as you can, and take them out.
Dissolve gum arabic in water, and let it be pretty thin; wet the flowers in it, and put them in a cloth to dry. When nearly dry, dip them all over in finely sifted sugar, and hang them up before the fire, or, if it should be a fine sunshiny day, hang them in the sun till they are thoroughly dry, and then take them down. The same may be done to marjoram and mint.
Steep two ounces of isinglass two hours in a pint of boiling water; take a pint of white wine, the yolks of eight eggs, well beaten, the juice of four lemons, with the rind of one. Sweeten it to your taste; set it over the fire, and keep it stirring till it boils.
Take half a pound of hartshorn; boil it in four quarts of water, till reduced to one quarter or less; let it stand all night. Blanch a quarter of a pound of almonds, and beat them small; melt the jelly, mix with it the almonds, strained through a thin strainer or hair sieve; then put a quarter of a pint of cream, a little cinnamon, and a blade of mace; boil these together, and sweeten it. Put it into china cups, and, when you use it, turn it out of the cups, and eat it with cream.
Put one pound of hartshorn shavings to three quarts of spring water; boil it very gently over a slow fire till it is reduced to one quart, then strain it through a fine sieve into a basin; let it stand till cold; then just melt it, and put to it half a pint of white wine, a pint of good thick cream, and four spoonfuls of orange-flower water. Scald the cream, and let it be cold before you mix it with the wine and jelly; sweeten it with double-refined sugar to your taste, and then beat it all one way for an hour and a half at least, for, if you are not careful in thus beating, it will neither mix nor even look to please you. Dip the moulds first in water, that they may turn out well. Keep the flummery in cups a day before you use it; when you serve it, stick it with blanched almonds, cut in thin slices. Calves’ feet may serve instead of hartshorn shavings.
Take one pound of hartshorn shavings, and put to it three quarts of water; boil it till it is half consumed; then strain and press out the hartshorn, and set it by to cool. Blanch four ounces of almonds in cold water, and beat them very finewith a little rose and orange-flower water. Make the jelly as warm as new milk, and sweeten it to your taste with the best sugar; put it by degrees to the almonds, and stir it very well until they are thoroughly mixed. Then wring it through a cloth, put it into cups, and set it by to jelly. Before you turn them out, dip the outside in a little warm water to loosen them; stick them with blanched almonds, cut in thin long pieces. Three ounces of sweet almonds, and one of apricot or peach kernels, make ratafia flummery. If you have none of the latter, use bitter almonds.
Boil a quarter of a pound of crumb of bread in milk; beat it with a wooden spoon; grate half a pound of Cheshire cheese, add the yolks of three eggs, and a quarter of a pound of butter; beat all well together. Beat up three whites of eggs to a thick froth; put this in last, and beat the whole well together. Bake in two paper cases or a dish, in a quick oven, for twenty minutes.
To two quarts of flour take two spoonfuls of yest, mixed with a little warm milk. Let it rise. Take nine eggs, leaving out four whites, and temper your dough to the consistence of paste. Add currants or apples, and a little brandy or rose-water. Roll the fritters thin, and fry them in lard.
Strip the fruit, put it into a stone jar, set the jar in a saucepan of water, and stew it to boiling on the stove. Strain off the liquor, and to every pint allow a pound of loaf sugar. Mix the fruit and the sugar in lumps in a stone vessel, but not till the sugar is nearly dissolved: then put it in a preserving-pan, and simmer and strain it till it is quite clear. When it will jelly on a plate, it is done, and may be put into pots.
Take green pippins, pears, plums, apricots, or peaches; put them into a preserving-pan; cover them with vine-leaves, and then with clear spring water. Put on the cover of the pan, and set them over a very clear fire; take them off as soon as they begin to simmer, and take them carefully out with a slice. Then peel and preserve them as other fruit.
Put your fruit into scalding water, sufficient nearly to cover it; set it over a slow fire, and keep it in a scald till tender,turning the fruit where the water does not cover. When it is very tender, lay paper close to it, and let it stand till it is cold. Then, to a pound of fruit put half a pound of sugar, and let it boil, but not too fast, till it looks clear. All fruit must be done whole, excepting pippins, and they are best in halves or quarters, with a little orange-peel and the juice of lemon.
To a pound and a half of flour add one pound of treacle, almost as much sugar, an ounce of beaten ginger, two ounces of caraway seeds, four ounces of citron and lemon-peel candied, and the yolks of four eggs. Cut your sweetmeats, mix all, and bake it in large cakes, or tin plates.
Into one pound and a half of flour work three quarters of a pound of butter; add three quarters of a pound of treacle, two ounces of sugar, half an ounce of ginger, a little orange-peel beaten and sifted. Some take a pound and a quarter of treacle and two ounces of ginger.
Two pounds of flour, two ounces of caraway seeds, one tea-spoonful of powdered ginger, half a spoonful of allspice, and the same of pearl-ash, two ounces of preserved orange, the same of lemon-peel, and half a pound of butter; mix these ingredients well together, and make it into a stiff paste with treacle, as stiff as you would make paste for a tart; then put it before the fire to rise for one hour, after which you may roll it out, and cut it into cakes, or mould it, as you like.
Take a pound of treacle and half a pound of butter; melt them together over a fire; have ready a pound and a half of flour well dried, into which put at least half an ounce of ginger well beaten and sifted, as many coriander seeds, half a pound of sugar, a little brandy, and some candied orange-peel; then mix the warm treacle and butter with the flour; make it into flat cakes, and bake it upon tins.
Two pounds of flour well dried, one pound of treacle, one pound of sugar, one nutmeg, four ounces of sweetmeats, one ounce of beaten ginger, one pound of fresh butter, melted with the treacle, and poured hot upon the other ingredients; makeit into a paste, and let it lie till quite cold; then roll it out, and bake it in a slow oven.
One pound of treacle, the same weight of flour, butter and sugar of each a quarter of a pound, ginger and candied lemon-peel of each half an ounce. Rub the butter, ginger, and sugar, well together, before you put in the treacle.
To a pound and a half of flour take one pound of treacle, almost as much sugar, an ounce of beaten ginger, two ounces of caraway seed, four ounces of citron and lemon-peel candied, and the yolks of four eggs. Cut the sweetmeats; well mix the whole; and bake in large cakes on tin plates.
Melt half a pound of butter, and put to it half a pound of treacle, two spoonfuls of brandy, and six ounces of coarse brown sugar. Mix all these together in a saucepan, and let the whole be milk warm; then put it to a pound and a quarter of flour, half an ounce of ginger, some orange-peel finely grated, and as much candied orange as you like.
A quarter of a pound of treacle, the same of flour, one ounce of butter, a little brown sugar, and some ginger. Mix all together, and bake the nuts on tins. Sweetmeat is a great addition.
Pick them in dry weather before they are too large; cut them at both ends with scissars, that they may not be broken; put them into very dry bottles, and fill them up to the neck with cold spring water. Put the bottles up to their necks in water, in a large fish-kettle, set it on the fire, and scald them. Take it off immediately when you perceive the gooseberries change colour. Next day, if the bottles require filling, have ready some cold spring water which has been boiled, and fill half way up the neck of the bottles; then pour in a little sweet oil, just sufficient to cover the water at the top of the bottle, and tie them over with a bladder.
Make as much thick syrup as will cover the quantity of gooseberries you intend to do; boil and skim it clear: set it by till almost cold. Have ready some green hairy gooseberries, not quite ripe, and the skins of which are still rather hard; cut off the remains of the flower at one end, leaving the little stalk on at the other; with a small penknife slit down the side, and with the point of the knife carefully remove the seeds, leaving the pulp. Put the gooseberries into the syrup when lukewarm; set it on the fire, shake it frequently, but do not let it boil. Take it off, and let the gooseberries stand all night: with a spoon push them under the syrup, or cover them with white paper. Next day set them on the fire, scald them again, but they must not boil, and shake them as before. Proceed in the same manner a third time. The jelly to put them in must be made thus: Take three pints of the sharpest gooseberries you can get—they must be of the white sort—to one pint of water; and the quantity you make of this jelly must of course be proportioned to that of the fruit. Boil them half an hour, till all the flavour of the fruit is extracted; strain off the liquor; let it settle, pour off the clear, and to each pint add one pound of double-refined sugar. Boil it till it jellies, which you may see by putting a little into a spoon or cup. Put a little of the jelly at the bottom of the pot to prevent the gooseberries from sinking to the bottom; when it is set, put in the rest of the gooseberries and jelly. When cold, cover with brandy paper.
Pick the white gooseberries, stamp and strain them; then take the largest of them when they just begin to turn; stone them, and to half a pound of gooseberries put a pound of the finest sugar, and beat it very fine. Take half a pound of the juice which you have strained; let it stand to settle clear; and set it, with six spoonfuls of water, on a quick fire; boil it as fast as you can; when you see the sugar, as it boils, look clear, they are enough; which will be in less than a quarter of an hour. Put them in glasses or pots, and paper them close. Next day, if they are not jellied hard enough, set them for a day or two in a hot stove, or in some warm place, but not in the sun; and, when jellied, put the papers close to them after being wetted and dried with a cloth.
Stone your gooseberries, and as you stone them put them into water: then weigh them, and to eight ounces of gooseberries take twelve ounces of double-refined sugar. Put as much water as will make it a pretty thick syrup, and when boiled and skimmed let it cool a little; then put the gooseberries into the syrup, and boil them quick, till they look clear. Take them out one by one, and put them into glass bottles;then heat the syrup a little, strain it through muslin, pour it on the fruit, and it will jelly when cold.
Pick off the eyes of the gooseberries, and put them in water scarcely sufficient to cover them; let them boil, and rub them through a sieve. Boil up a candy of sugar; put in your paste, and just scald it a little. Add one pound of sugar to a pint of the paste, and put into pots to dry in the stove: when candied over, turn them out on glasses.
Scald bunches of grapes in water till they will peel; when they are peeled and stoned, put them into fresh cold water, cover them up close, and set them over the fire till they begin to green. Then take them out of the water and put them to the syrup; after it has been well skimmed. Cut a paper that will exactly fit the skillet, and let it rest upon the syrup. Cover the skillet, and set it over a slow fire, till the grapes look green; put them into a thicker syrup, and, when they are as green as you wish them to be, take them out of the syrup, and let them dry in the stove in bunches.
Stone your grapes, and peel off the skin; cover them and no more with codling jelly, and let them boil fast up: then take them off the fire, let them stand until they are cold, and boil them again till they become green. Put a pound of sugar to a pint of the grapes, and let them boil fast till they jelly.
Gather the plums before they are too ripe, and take as much pump water as will cover them. Put to the water a quarter of a pound of double-refined sugar, boil it, and let it stand to be cold. Prick the greengages with a large needle in four places to the stone; wrap each of them lightly in a vine-leaf, and set them over a slow fire to green. Do so for three days running; on the last day, put in a spoonful of old verjuice or lemon-juice, and a small lump of alum. Next day draw them, and, after taking off the vine-leaves, put them in a thick syrup, first boiled and cleared. Finish them by degrees, by heating them a little every day till they look clear.
Stone and split the fruit without taking off the skin. Weigh an equal quantity of sugar and fruit, and strew part of thesugar over the greengages, having first laid them on dishes, with the hollow part uppermost. Take the kernels from the stones, peel and blanch them. The next day, pour off the syrup from the fruit, and boil it very gently with the other sugar eight minutes. Skim it, and add the fruit and kernels. Simmer the whole till quite clear, taking off any scum that rises. Put the fruit, one by one, into small pots, and pour the syrup and kernels to it.
Boil one pound of hartshorn shavings over a very gentle fire, in two quarts of water, till it is reduced to one quart; let it settle, and strain it off. Put to this liquor the whites of eight or nine eggs, and four or five of their shells, broken very fine, the whites well beaten, the juice of seven or eight lemons, or part oranges; sweeten with the best sugar, and add above a pint of Rhenish or Lisbon wine. Mix all these well together, and boil over a quick fire, stirring all the time with a whisk. As soon as it boils up, strain it through a flannel bag, throwing it backward and forward till it is perfectly clear. Boil lemon-peel in it to flavour it. The last time of passing it through the bag, let it drip into the moulds or glasses.
Blanch two quarts of the best almonds in cold water; beat them very fine in a mortar, with a little canary wine and orange-flower water; make them into a stiff paste; then beat in the yolks of twelve eggs, leaving out five whites; add a pint of good cream; sweeten to your taste, and put in half a pound of good butter melted. Set it on a slow fire, and keep it constantly stirring till it is stiff enough. Make it up into the form of a hedgehog; stick it full of blanched almonds, slit and stuck up like the bristles; put it in a dish, and make hartshorn jelly, and put to it, or cold cream, sweetened with a glass of white wine, and the juice of a Seville orange; plump two currants for the eyes.
Mix a little cream and new milk together in a dish; put in runnet, as for cheesecakes; stir it together. Pour in some canary wine and sugar. Then put the whites of three eggs and a little rose-water to a pint of cream; whip it up to a froth with a whisk, and, as it rises, put it upon the runnet and milk. Lay in here and there bunches of preserved barberries, raspberry jam, or any thing of that sort you please. Whip up more froth, and put over the whole.
Grate the peel of two lemons on sugar, and put it into a bowl, with the juice of four lemons squeezed, and well stir it about; then sweeten it with clarified sugar to your taste, and add to it three spoonfuls of water. Throw over a little salt on the ice; put the ice in the bottom of the pail; put the ice-pot on it, and cover it also with ice. Turn the pot continually, and in about a minute or two open it, and continue to stir it till it is frozen enough; after this stir every now and then.
Beat the white of an egg to a strong froth; put in by degrees four ounces of fine sugar, beaten and sifted very fine, with as much gum as will lie on a sixpence. Beat it up for half an hour, and lay it over your cakes the thickness of a straw.
Take the whites of four eggs and a pound of double-refined sugar, pounded and sifted; beat the eggs a little; put the sugar in, and whip it as fast as possible; then wash your cake with rose-water, and lay the iceing on; set it in the oven with the lid down till it is hard.
Steep two ounces of isinglass for an hour in a pint of boiling water; put to it three quarters of a pint of white wine, the juice of two oranges and one lemon, the peel of a lemon cut very fine, and the yolks of eight eggs. Sweeten and boil it all together; strain it in a mould, and, when cold, turn it out. Make it the day before you use it.
One ounce of isinglass, dissolved in a good half pint of water, the juice of two small lemons, the peel of half a lemon, the yolks of four eggs, well beaten, half a pound of sugar, half a pint of white wine: mix these carefully together, and stir them into the isinglass jelly over the fire. Let it simmer a few minutes; when a little cool, pour it into your moulds, taking care to wet them first; turn it out the next day.
Pare four lemons as thin as possible; put the rinds into a pint and a half of water; let them lie twelve hours: then squeeze the lemons; put the water and juice together; add three quarters of a pound of the best sugar, but if the lemons are large, it will require more sugar. When the sugar is quitemelted, beat up the whites of six new-laid eggs to a froth; mix all together, and strain it through a hair sieve into a saucepan; set it on a slow fire, and keep it stirred till it is near boiling and grows thick. Then take it off, and keep stirring it the same way till it cools. The colouring is to be steeped in a cup of water, and then strained into the other ingredients. Care must be taken to stir it always one way. The eggs are the last thing put in; the whole must be well mixed with a whisk till thoroughly incorporated.
Of rice, sago, pearl barley, candied eringo root, of each one ounce; add two quarts of water; simmer it over the fire till it is reduced to one quart; strain it. This will produce a strong jelly; a little to be dissolved in white wine or warm milk, and to be taken three or four times a day.
Pearl barley, whole rice, sago, and candied eringo root, of each one ounce, and half an ounce of hartshorn shavings, put into two quarts of spring water; simmer very gently till reduced to one quart, and then rub it through a fine sieve. Half a coffee-cup to be taken with an equal quantity of milk in a morning fasting, and lie an hour after it, and to be taken twice more in the day. You may then put a small quantity of wine or brandy instead of milk.
Put the juice of four lemons, and the rind pared as thin as possible, into a pint of spring water, and let it stand for half an hour. Take the whites of five eggs; sweeten, and strain through a flannel bag. Set it over a slow fire, and stir it one way till it begins to thicken. You may then put it in glasses or dishes, and colour with turmeric.
Dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a quart of port wine, with some cinnamon and sugar: sweeten to your taste with the best white sugar. It must not be suffered to boil, and will take two or three hours to dissolve, as the fire must be very slow: stir it often to prevent its boiling. It must be taken cold.
Squeeze the juice of nine or ten China oranges and one Seville orange through a sieve into an earthen pan, adding aquarter of a pound of double-refined sugar. Take an ounce and a half, good weight, of the best isinglass, the peel of seven of the oranges grated, and the bitter squeezed out through a towel; boil this peel in the isinglass, which must be put over the fire in about a pint of water just to melt it. Stir it all the time it is on the fire; strain and pour it to the juice of the oranges, which boil together for about ten minutes. When you take it off, strain it again, and put it into moulds.
Set on the fire one ounce of isinglass in a quarter of a pint of warm water till it is entirely dissolved. Take the juice of nine oranges; strain off clear half a pint of mountain wine, sweetened with lump sugar to your taste, and colour it with a very little cochineal. Boil all together for a few minutes, and strain it through a flannel bag, till it is quite clear: pour it to the peels, and let it stand till it is a stiff jelly.
One ounce of isinglass, dissolved in a pint of water, the juice of six China oranges, a bit of the rind, pared thin, sweetened to the taste, scalded, and strained. You may scoop the rind and fill the oranges, and, when cold, halve or quarter them.
Take two pounds of knuckle of veal and a pound and a half of lean beef; set it over the fire with four pints of water; cover it close, and stew it till reduced to half. While stewing, put in half an ounce of fine isinglass, picked small, a little salt, and mace. Strain it off clear, and when cold take off every particle of fat. Warm it in hot water, and not in a pan. Take a tea-cupful twice a day.
Boil two ounces of isinglass in a quarter of a pint of water over a gentle fire, and skim it well. Mash a quart of scarlet strawberries in an earthen pan with a wooden spoon; then put in the isinglass, some powdered sugar, and the juice of a good lemon—this quantity is for six small moulds; if you do not find it enough, add a little more water; then run it through a tamis, changing it two or three times.
On two ounces of isinglass and one ounce of hartshorn shavings pour one pint of boiling water; let it stand a quarter of an hour covered close; then add two quarts of water, andboil it well till the isinglass is dissolved; add a pint of dry wine, sugar to your taste, four lemons, and the whites of seven eggs well beaten. Boil it quick, and keep it stirring all the time; then pour it through a jelly-bag, and strain it two or three times till quite clear.
Take fine large lemons or Seville oranges; rasp the outside skin very fine and thin; put them in cold water, and let them lie all night. Put them in fresh water, and set them on the fire in plenty of water, and, when they have had two or three boils, take them off, and let them lie all night in cold water. Then put them into fresh water, and let them boil till they are so tender that you can run a straw through them. If you think the bitterness not sufficiently out, put them again into cold water, and let them lie all night. Lemons need not soak so long as oranges. To four oranges or lemons put two pounds of the best sugar and a pint of water; boil and skim it clear, and when it is cold put in the oranges, and let them lie four or five days in cold syrup; then give them a boil every day till they look clear. Make some pippin or codlin jelly thus: to a pint of either put one pound of sugar, and let it boil till it jellies; then heat the oranges, and put them to the jelly and half their syrup; boil them very fast a quarter of an hour, and, just before you take them off the fire, put in the juice of two or three lemons; put them in pots or porringers, that will hold them single, and that will admit jelly enough. To four oranges or lemons, put a pound and a half of jelly and the same quantity of syrup, but boiled together, as directed for the oranges. Malaga lemons are the best; they are done in the same manner as the oranges, only that they do not require so much soaking.
Take a pint of water, the juice of two lemons, the rind of half a lemon pared as thin as possible from the white, a blade of mace, and some bread shred very small; sweeten to your taste. Set the whole on the fire to boil; when boiled enough, which you will perceive by the bread being soft, beat three or four eggs well together till they are as thin as water; then take a little out of the skillet and put to the eggs, and so proceed till the eggs are hot; then put them to the rest, stirring well to prevent curdling.
Take half a pound of fine-sifted double-refined sugar; grate into it the yellow rind of a fair large lemon; whip the whiteof an egg to a froth, with which wet the sugar till it is as stiff as good working paste. Drop it as you like on paper, with a little sugar first sifted on it; bake in a very slow oven.
For chocolate drops, grate about an ounce of chocolate as you did of lemon-peel, which must then be left out.
Into half a pound of double-refined sugar, beat fine and sifted, grate the yellow rind of a large lemon. Whip up the white of an egg to a froth, and wet it with the froth, till it is as stiff as a good working paste. Lay the puffs on papers, and bake them in a very slow oven.
A quarter of a pound of almonds blanched and beaten with a little sweet cream; put in half a pound of sugar, the yolks only of eight eggs, half a pound of butter, the peel of two lemons grated. Beat all together fine in a mortar; lay puff paste about the dish; bake it half an hour.
Put the juice of a lemon, with the rind grated, into a dish: sweeten it to your taste; boil a quart of cream till it is reduced to three half pints; pour it upon the lemon, and let it stand to cool. It should be made the day before it is used.
To three pounds of the best sugar finely beaten put one pint of lemon juice, set by to settle, and then poured off clear: put it in a silver tankard, and set that in a pot of boiling water. Let this boil till the sugar is quite dissolved, and when cold bottle it; take care that in the boiling not the least water gets in. Skim off any little scum that rises.
Take half a pound of almonds, blanched and pounded, and half a pound of finely pounded lump sugar. Beat up the whites of two eggs to a froth; mix the sugar and almonds together; add the eggs by degrees; and, when they are well mixed, drop a spoonful on wafer-paper. They must be baked as soon as made in a slow oven.
Boil the citron very tender, cutting off all the yellow rind; beat the white very well in a wooden bowl; shred the rind,and to a pound of pulp and rind take a pound and a half of sugar, and half a pint of water. When it boils, put in the citron, and boil it very fast till it is clear; put in half a pint of pippin jelly, and boil it till it jellies very well; then add the lemon-juice, and put it into your pots or glasses.
Take eight pounds of cherries, not too ripe; stone them; take two pounds of sugar beaten, and the juice of four quarts of currants, red and white. Put the cherries into a pan, with half a pound of the sugar, over a very hot fire; shake them frequently; when there is a good deal of liquor, put in the rest of the sugar, skimming it well and boiling it as fast as possible, till your syrup is almost wasted; then put in your currant juice, and let it boil quick till it jellies; keep stirring it with care; then put it in pots.
Take five pounds of cherries stoned and two pounds of loaf sugar; shred your cherries, wet your sugar with the juice that runs from them, then put the cherries into the sugar, and boil them pretty fast, till they become a marmalade. When cold, put it into glasses for use.
Pare your oranges very thin, and lay them in water two or three days, changing the water twice a day; then take them out, and dry them with a linen cloth. Take their weight in sugar beat fine; cut the oranges in halves, take out the pulp, pick out the seeds, and take off the skins carefully. Boil the rinds very tender in a linen cloth; cut them in strips whilst hot, and lay them in the pan in which you design to boil the marmalade. Put a layer of sugar, and a layer of orange rinds, alternately, till all are in; let them stand till the sugar is quite dissolved; add the juice of a lemon; set them on a stove, and let them boil fast till nearly done; then put in the pulp, and boil them again till quite done. Take them off, and add the juice of a lemon; let them stand in pots for a few days, and they will be fit for eating.
Lemon marmalade may be done in the same way, only with a much greater quantity of sugar, or sugar mixed with sugar-candy.
Take six dozen Seville oranges; pare thin three dozen, the other three rasp thin, and keep the parings and raspings separate. Cut all the six dozen in halves; squeeze out the juice,but not too hard; scoop out the pulp with a tea-spoon; pick out the seeds, and keep the pulp. Boil the skins, changing the water two or three times, to take off the bitterness, till they are tender enough for a straw to pierce them. When they are boiled, scoop out and throw away the stringy part; boil the parings three times in different waters; beat the boiled skins very fine in a marble mortar; beat the boiled rinds in the same manner. The pulp, skin, rinds, and juice, must be all weighed, but not yet mixed; for each pound in the whole take one pound of loaf sugar, which must first be mixed with a little water, boiled alone, well skimmed, and thoroughly cleared. The pulp, skins, and juice, must then be put into this syrup, well mixed, and boiled together for about half an hour; after which put in the rasped rinds, beaten as above directed, and boil all together for a short time. Put the marmalade into small pots, and cover with brandy paper.
Take a dozen of Seville oranges and their weight in sugar finely powdered. Pare the oranges as thin as possible; the first peel is not used in marmalade; it is better to grate off the outer peel and put them in water. Let them lie two or three days, changing the water every day; then cut the oranges in quarters, and take out all the pulp; boil the peels in several waters, till they are quite tender and not bitter. Then put to the sugar half a pint of water, and boil it to a syrup, till it draws as fine as a hair; put in the peels sliced very thin, and boil them gently about a quarter of an hour. While the peels are boiling, pick out all the seeds and skins from the pulp; then put the pulp to the orange-peel; let it boil till it is clear; put a little in a saucer, and when it jellies it is done enough.
Weigh the oranges, and take an equal weight of sugar; wipe the fruit with a wet cloth; grate them, cut them across, and squeeze them through a hair sieve. Boil the skins tender, so that the head of a pin will easily pierce them; take them off the fire, squeeze out the water, scrape the pulp from them, cut the skins into very thin chips, and let them boil until they are very transparent. Then put in the juice and so much of the gratings as you choose; let it all boil together till it will jelly, which you will know by letting a little of it cool in a saucer.
Take one pound and a half of quinces, two pounds of sugar, a pint of water, and a quarter of a pint of the juice of quinces;boil it tender, and skim it well. When done enough, put into it a quarter of a pint of the juice of barberries. Skim it clear as long as any thing rises.
Scald as many fine large quinces as you would use, and grate as many small ones as will make a quart of juice, or according to the quantity you want. Let this settle; after you have pressed it through a coarse cloth, strain it through a jelly-bag, that what you use may be perfectly clear. To every pint of this liquor put a pound and a half of sugar, and a pound and a half of the scalded quinces, which must be pared and cored before they are weighed. Set it at first on a pretty brisk fire; when it begins to boil, slacken the fire; and when it begins to turn red cover it close. As soon as it is of a fine bright red, take it off, as it turns of a blackish muddy colour in a moment if not carefully watched. A small bit of cochineal, tied up in a bit of rag and boiled with it, gives it a beautiful colour. Before you have finished boiling, add barberry juice, to your judgment, which improves the flavour.
Pare the quinces, quarter them, and cut out all the hard part; to a pound of quinces put a pound and a half of sugar and half a pound of the juice of barberries, boiled with water, as you do jelly or other fruit, boiling it very fast, and break it very small; when it is all to pieces and jellied, it is enough. If you wish the marmalade to be of a green colour, put a few black bullaces to the barberries when you make the jelly.
Pare and quarter the quinces, and put as much water as will cover them; boil them all to pieces to make jelly, and run it through a jelly-bag. Take a pound of quinces, quarter them, and cut out all the hard parts; pare them, and to a pound of fruit put a pound and a half of finely beaten sugar and half a pint of water. Let it boil till very clear; keep stirring it, and it will break as you wish it. When the sugar is boiled very thick, almost to a candy, put in half a pint of jelly, and let it boil very fast till it becomes a jelly. Take it off the fire, and put in juice of lemon; skim it well, and put it into pots or glasses.
Blanch one pound of almonds as white as you can; take three quarters of a pound of fine white sugar well pounded; beat them up together with a little rose-water, to preventthe almonds from oiling. Take out the mixture, work it like paste, make it into cakes, lay them on wafers, and bake them. Boil rose-water and sugar till it becomes a syrup; when the cakes are almost done, spread this syrup all over them, and strew them with comfits.
Take a pound of almonds finely beaten, and a pound of fine sugar, sifted through a hair sieve; mix these together; then add the whites of four eggs, beaten up to a froth; mix the whole well together, and scald it over your fire, still keeping it well-stirred, to prevent burning. Let it stand till cold; afterwards roll it on papers, and bake it.
Make the pasties small, the length of a finger; put in large pieces of marrow, first dipped in egg, and seasoned with sugar, beaten cloves, mace, and nutmeg. Strew a few currants on the marrow, and either bake or fry them.
Cut and pare a thoroughly ripe melon into thick slices; put them into water till they become mouldy; then put them into fresh water over the fire to coddle, not to boil. Make a good syrup; when properly skimmed, and while boiling, put your melon in to boil for a short time. The syrup should be boiled every day for a fortnight; do not put it to the melon till a little cold: the last time you boil the syrup, put it into a muslin bag; add one ounce of ginger pounded and the juice and rind of two lemons; but, if a large melon, allow an additional ounce of ginger.
Cut a good melon as for eating; peel it, carefully taking off the green part entirely, but not more. Take out all the inside, and steep the slices for ten days in the best vinegar, keeping it well covered. Take out the slices, and put them over the fire in fresh vinegar; let them stew till quite tender. Then drain and dry them in a cloth; stick bits of cloves and cinnamon in them; lay them in a jar, and make a syrup, and pour over them. Tie the jar close down. This kind of sweetmeat is eaten in Geneva with roast meat, and is much better than currant jelly or apple sauce. The melon must be in good order, and within three or four days of being ripe enough to eat.
One pound of beef, one pound and a half of suet, one pound of currants, half a pound of chopped raisins, one pound ofsugar, if moist, half a pint of brandy, a pint of raisin wine, mace, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg, pounded together. Sweetmeats, candied lemon, and fresh peel, may be added, when used for baking.
One pound of beef suet, one pound of apples peeled and cored, one pound of raisins stoned and chopped very fine, the same of currants well picked, half a pound of sugar made very fine, a glass of brandy, a glass of wine, half an ounce of allspice, the juice of two large lemons, the rind chopped as fine as possible: add sweetmeats to your taste.
Take one pound of beef and two pounds of suet shred fine, two pounds of currants, one pound of the best raisins stoned, but not chopped, three quarters of a pound of sugar, four fine pippins or russetings chopped fine, some grated lemon-peel, half an ounce of cinnamon, the same of nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of mace, wine and brandy to your taste, and whatever sweetmeats you please.
Twelve pounds of currants, very well washed, dried, and picked, six pounds of raisins stoned and chopped very small, a quarter of a pound of cloves, three ounces of mace, and two of nutmegs, pounded very fine, the rind of three large fresh lemons pared very thin and chopped fine, six pounds of powder sugar, a quart of sack, a quart of brandy, one hundred golden rennets, pared, cored, and chopped small: mix all well together, and let it stand two days, stirring it from the bottom twice or thrice a day. Add three whole dried preserved oranges and an equal weight of dried citron. Mix in the suet a day or two before you use it. Add lemon-juice to your taste, and that only to the quantity you mean to bake at once. Without suet these ingredients will keep for six months.
To make a mince meat that will keep for five or six years, take four pounds of raisins of the sun, stoned and chopped very fine, five pounds of currants, three pounds of beef suet shred very fine, the crumb of a half-quartern loaf, three pounds of loaf-sugar, the peel of four lemons grated, half an ounce of nutmeg, a quarter of an ounce of mace, the same of cloves, and one pint of good brandy. When you make your pies, add about one third of apple chopped fine; and to each pie put six oreight small slices of citron and preserved orange-peel, with a table-spoonful of sweet wine, ratafia, and a piece of a large lemon mixed together.
Three pounds of suet, three pounds of apples, pared and cored, three pounds of currants washed, picked, and dried, one pound and a half of sugar powdered, three quarters of a pound of preserved orange-peel, six ounces of citron, the juice of six lemons, one pint of sack and one of brandy, a quarter of an ounce of mace, the same of nutmeg, and of cloves and cinnamon half a quarter of an ounce each.
Cut three large lemons, and squeeze out the juice; boil the peels together with the pulp till it will pound in a mortar; put to it one pound of beef suet, finely chopped, currants and lump sugar, one pound of each; mix it all well together; then add the juice with a glass of brandy. Put sweetmeats to your taste.
Put half a pint of syrup into a stewpan, and boil it to what is called blow; then take the whites of three eggs, put them in another copper pan, and whisk them very strong. When your sugar is boiled, rub it against the sides of the stewpan with a table-spoon; when you see the sugar change, quickly mix the whites of eggs with it, for if you are not quick your sugar will turn to powder. When you have mixed it as light as possible, put in the rind of one lemon; stir it as little as possible: take a board, about one foot wide and eighteen inches long, and put a sheet of paper on it. With your table-spoon drop your batter in the shape of half an egg: sift a little powdered sugar over them before you put them in the oven. Let your oven be of a moderate heat; watch them attentively, and let them rise, and just let the outside be a little hard, but not the least brown; the inside must be moist. Take them off with a knife, and just put about a tea-spoonful of jam in the middle of them; then put two of them together, and they will be in the shape of an egg; you must handle them very gently.
Take as much white starch as sugar, and sift it; colour some of the sugar with turmeric, some with blue powder, some with chocolate, and some with the juice of spinach; and wet each by itself with a solution of gum-dragon. Strainand rub it through a hair sieve, and let them dry before you touch them.
Mix flour in a pan, with warm new milk and water, yest and salt, according to your judgment. Beat it up well with a wooden spoon till it is a stiff batter; then set it near the fire to rise, which will be in about an hour. It must then be well beaten down, and put to rise again, and, when very light, made into muffins, and baked in flat round irons made for the purpose. The iron must be made hot, and kept so with coals under it. Take out the batter with a spoon, and drop it on a little flour sprinkled lightly on a table. Then lay them on a trencher with a little flour; turn the trencher round to shape them, assisting with your hand if they need it. Then bake them; when one side is done, turn them with a muffin knife, and bake the other.
Make a hole at the stalk end; take out all the seeds, but no pulp; squeeze out the juice, which must be saved to put to them, taking great care you do not loosen the pulp. Put them into an earthen pan, with water; boil them till the water is bitter, changing it three times, and, in the last water put a little salt, and boil them till they are very tender, but not to break. Take them out and drain them; take two pounds of sugar and a quart of pippin jelly; boil it to a syrup, skim it very clear, and then put in your oranges. Set them over a gentle fire till they boil very tender and clear; then put to them the juice that you took from them; prick them with a knife that the syrup may penetrate. If you cut them in halves, lay the skin side upwards, and put them up and cover them with the syrup.
Lemons and citrons may be done in the same way.
Take six oranges, rasp them very thin, put them in water as you do them, and let them lie all night. In the morning boil them till they are tender, and then put them into clear water, and let them remain so two or three days. Take the oranges, and cut a hole in the top, and pick out the seeds, but not the meat; then take three pounds of fine sugar, and make a thin syrup, and, when boiled and skimmed, put in your oranges, and let them boil till they are clear. Take them out, and let them stand three or four days; then boil them again till the syrup is rather thick. Put half a pound of sugar and half a pint of apple jelly to every orange, and let it boiluntil it jellies; put them into pots, and place any substance to keep down the orange in the pot till it cools.
Put Seville oranges in spring water, where let them remain three or four days, shifting the water every day. Take them out, and grate off a little of the outside rind very carefully without touching the white, only to take away a little of the bitter; make a thin syrup, and, when it is sufficiently cleared and boiled, take it off, and, when it is only warm, put the oranges in and just simmer them over the fire. Put them and the syrup into a pan, and in a day or two set them again on the fire, and just scald them. Repeat this a day afterwards; then boil a thick syrup; take the oranges out of the thin one, and lay them on a cloth to drain, covered over with another; then put them to the thick syrup, as you before did to the thin one, putting them into it just hot, and giving them a simmer. Repeat this in a few days if you think they are not sufficiently done. The insides must be left in.
Take a pint of the juice of oranges and eight new-laid eggs beaten well together; mix and season them to your taste with loaf-sugar; then set it on the fire; keep stirring till it becomes thick; put in a bit of butter of the size of a walnut, stirring it while on the fire; then dish it up.
Take twelve oranges, the palest you can get; take out the pulp, pick out the seeds and skins; let the outsides soak in water with a little salt all night: then boil them in a good quantity of spring water, till tender, which will be about nine or ten hours. Drain and cut them in very thin slices; add them to the pulp, and to every pound take one pound and a half of sugar beaten fine. Boil them together till clear, which will be in about three quarters of an hour.
Grate the peels of four Seville oranges into a pint of water, then squeeze the juice into the water. Well beat the yolks of four eggs; put all together; and sweeten with double-refined sugar. Press the whole hard through a strong strainer; set it on the fire, and stir it carefully one way, till it is as thick as cream.
Dissolve two ounces of isinglass in a pint of water; add a pint of the juice of four China oranges, two Seville oranges, and two lemons. Grate the peel of them all, and sweeten to your palate.
Pick all the meat out of the oranges, and boil the rinds in water till they are very tender. Cut off all the outside, and beat the pulp in a mortar till it is very fine. Shred the outside in long thin bits, and mix it with the meat, when you have taken out all the seeds. To every pint of juice put half a pint of the pulp, and mix all together. Then boil up a candy of sugar; put in your paste, and just scald it; add a good pound of sugar to a pint of the paste; put it into a broad earthen pan, set it on a stove, let it remain till it candies; skim it off with a spoon, drop it on glasses to dry, and as, often as it candies keep skimming it.
To six ounces of sugar put six ounces at least of fine flour, mixed with a little orange-flower water, but no eggs, as they would make it too dry. Moisten with water, taking care that it is neither too hard nor too soft. Rub the pan with a little fine oil.