Currant jelly

“ The juice, like red currant juice, can be boiled with a large quantity of white sugar till the jelly sets of its own accord; in this case we should require one pound of sugar to every pint of juice, and the result would be a blackberry jelly like red currant jelly, more like a preserve than the jelly we are accustomed to eat at dinner alone. For instance, no one would care to eat a quantity of red currant jelly like we should ordinary orange or lemon jelly—it would be too sickly ”

“ Claret Jelly.—1 bottle of claret, the juice and rind of 1 lemon, 1 sixpenny pot of red currant jelly, 1⁄2 lb. loaf sugar, rather more than 1 oz. isinglass in hot weather (in winter 1 oz. is quite sufficient) , a wineglassful of brandy. Boil altogether for a few minutes, taking care that the red currant jelly is well dissolved and thoroughly mixed with the other ingredients: 10 minutes will generally effect this, but a good deal depends on the general temperature. Serve with cream sauce as follows: 1⁄2 pint cream sweetened and flavoured with vanilla whisked to a stiff froth ”

“ Currant jelly Make a sponge of one-half the flour, sugar, milk, and dissolved yeast cake; let rise to double its bulk. Add remaining ingredients and let rise again. Toss on a floured board, roll to one-fourth inch thickness, shape with a small biscuit-cutter (first dipped in flour) , cover, and let rise on board. Take each piece and hollow in centre to form a nest. In one-half the pieces put one-half teaspoon of currant jelly and quince marmalade mixed in the proportion of one part jelly to two parts marmalade. Brush with milk edges of filled pieces. ”

“ White raspberry jelly may be prepared in the same manner. A very nice sweetmeat is made of white raspberries preserved whole, by putting them in white currant jelly during the ten minutes that you are boiling the juice with the syrup. You may also preserve red raspberries whole, by boiling them in red currant jelly.
BLACK CURRANT JELLY.— Take large ripe black currants; strip them from the stalks, and mash them with the back of a ladle. Then put them into a preserving kettle with a tumbler of water to each quart of currants ”

“ Sometimes ladies complain that, for some inexplicable reason, they cannot make their currant jelly harden. The true reason was doubtless this,—that while making it, it was suffered to stop boiling for a few minutes. Let it boil gently but steadily, until by taking a little of it into a cold silver spoon, you perceive that it quickly hardens around the edges. A practised eye will readily judge by the movement of the liquid as it boils. Put jelly in little jars, cups, or tumblers; when it is cold, paste paper over the top and brush it over with white of egg. ”

“ Because if there is anything on top of this green earth that I think is just about right, it is currant jelly. Grape jelly is nice, and crab-apple jelly has its good points, and quince jelly is very delicate, but there is something about currant jelly that seems to touch the spot. Quince preserves are good if there is enough apple with the quince, and watermelon preserves are a great favorite, not because they are so much better tasting, but because the lucent golden cubes in the spicy syrup appeal so to the eye. ”

“ One pound of the best loaf sugar, powdered and sifted, the whites of four eggs, twelve drops of essence of lemon, a teacup of currant jelly. Beat the whites of four eggs till they stand alone. Then beat in gradually the sugar, a teaspoonful at a time. Add the essence of lemon, and beat the whole very hard. Lay a wet sheet of paper on the bottom of a square tin pan. Drop on it at equal distances a small teaspoonful of currant jelly. With a large spoon, pile some of the beaten white of eggs and sugar on each lump of jelly, so as to cover it entirely. ”

“ Heap neatly about the base of the moulded custard, like snow-drifts. If you like, you may dot this with minute bits of currant jelly.
This is a pleasing dish to the eye and taste, [417]
Floating Island. ✠ 1 quart of milk. 5 eggs—whites and yolks beaten separately. 4 tablespoonfuls (heaping) white sugar. 2 teaspoonfuls extract bitter almond or vanilla. 1⁄2 cup currant jelly.
Beat the yolks well, stir in the sugar, and add the hot, not boiling milk, a little at a time. Boil until it begins to thicken. When cool, flavor and pour into a glass dish, first stirring it up well. ”

“ In Sweden, however, large quantities are yearly made into jelly, which is eaten as a sauce with all kinds of meat, being even preferred by many to currant jelly. Shut into a close vessel, and placed in a cellar, they keep well for a long time, and the wine-makers of Paris preserve them thus from June until vintage time, using them then to give colour to their grape juice—a practice harmless, at least so long as they confine themselves to the use of this species ”

“ When country-dames make currant-jellies and currant-wine, they know very well, that, if they allow the berries to get dead-ripe, their jelly will not be so firm as when they seize an early opportunity and gather them when first fully red. ”

“ A teaspoonful of this jelly may be given three or four times in the day to a child with thrush. In Russia the leaves of the black Currant are employed to fabricate brandy made with a coarse spirit. These leaves and the fruit are often combined by our herbalists with the seeds of the wild carrot for stimulating the kidneys in passive dropsy. A medicinal wine is also brewed from the fruit together with honey. In this country we use a decoction of the leaf, or of the bark as a gargle. In Siberia black Currants grow as large as hazel nuts. ”

“ The fruit is only intended as an ornament. A jelly that is quite as pretty may be made by using clusters of red and white, or red, white, and black currants. The red and white ones should have two or three young leaves attached, and each cluster be perfect; no black-currant leaves must be used, as they have a strong flavor.
Jelly with Candied Fruits.—Make a quart of maraschino jelly, which is done by omitting the rum, lemon, and cinnamon from the last recipe, and using in place of rum a gill of maraschino, and water in place of lemon juice. ”

“ They are not often eaten fresh, but are generally utilized for making jellies, jams, and preserves, or for pastry and pies. When they are to be used for jelly, it is not necessary to pick them from the stems, as they may be washed and cooked on their stems. Some varieties of currants are dried and these are used extensively in the making of cakes, cookies, etc. The usefulness of this fruit as a food is not so great as many others. ”

“ Too much boiling, or too slow boiling, injures jelly and makes it ropy. Too much sugar will cause jelly to grain; the quantity used must be in accordance with the requirements of the fruit, acid fruit requiring more sugar and dead ripe fruit less. Red currants take more sugar than black currants; they also take more time to boil to a jelly. A little practice and a few mistakes will make anyone who takes pleasure in cooking a good jelly-maker and preserver. ”

“ They may also have observed that jelly made late, besides being less firm, is much more likely to candy. At first, the currants contain hardly any sugar, but more gum and vegetable jelly (glue) ; when dead-ripe, they have twelve times as much sugar as at first, and the gum and glue are much diminished. The gummy and gluey materials have been transformed into sugar. Every ripe fruit gives us evidence of the same manufacture of sugar that has gone on under the stimulus of the sun's rays ”

“ When it is perfectly congealed, dip the mould for an instant in boiling water to loosen the jelly. Turn it out on a glass dish.
This quantity of ingredients will make a quart of jelly when finished. In cool weather it may be made a day or two before it is wanted.
You may increase the seasoning, (that is, the wine, lemon, and cinnamon,) according to your taste, but less than the above proportion will not be sufficient to flavour the jelly.
BLANCMANGE
Four calf's-feet. ”

“ Some think that jelly eats best in the rough, not out of a mould.—Another: boil 4 feet in 21⁄2 quarts of water, boil twelve hours, or till all their goodness is extracted. The next day remove all fat as well as sediment, put the jelly into a saucepan with 11⁄2 pint of sherry or Marsala, the peel and juice of 7 lemons, and sugar to your taste. Finish in the same way as directed above, and when strained, add a wine-glassful of Champagne brandy. You may add 1 oz. isinglass to make the jelly very stiff, but some object to this, as it makes it tough as well as stiff. ”

“ As jelly is considered more wholesome when not colored by any foreign substance, no directions will be given in the subsequent pages for coloring it. The palest amber jelly, clear and sparkling, flavored only by the grated rind and juice of a lemon 418 and pale Madeira or sherry wine, is not only the most beautiful, but the most palatable jelly that can be made. ”

“ Those of several villages are not to be found. Of the remainder only a small share is in the Collector's cutcherry, and the rest is in the hands of curnums, written on cadjans."—Minute by Sir T. Munro, in Arbuthnot, i. 285.
CUROUNDA, s. H. karaundā. A small plum-like fruit, which makes good jelly and tarts, and which the natives pickle. It is borne by Carissa carandas, L., a shrub common in many parts of India (N.O. Apocynaceae) . ”

“ To a pound of currants put three quarters of a pound of lump sugar. Put the fruit first into the preserving-pan, and place the sugar carefully in the middle, so as not to touch the pan. Let it boil gently on a clear fire for about half an hour. It must not be stirred. Skim the jelly carefully from the top, and add a quarter of a pound of fruit to what remains from the jelly; stir it well, and boil it thoroughly. The proportion of fruit added for the jam must always be one quarter. In making jelly or jam, it is an improvement to add to every five pounds of currants one pound of raisins. ”

“ For [182] the inexperienced jelly maker the safe rule is to confine jelly making to the fruits which are ideal for the purpose. These include currants, sour apples, crab-apples, under-ripe grapes, quinces, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, wild cherries, and green gooseberries. These contain pectin and acid in sufficient quantities.
In making jelly without the alcohol test, with the juice of currants and under-ripe grapes use 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of juice. ”

“ Squeeze them through a fine cloth, and add to every quart of juice a pound and a half of loaf sugar broken into small pieces. Stir it till the sugar is melted; when it boils skim it quite clean. Boil it pretty quick over a clear fire, till it jellies, which is known by dipping a skimmer into the jelly and holding it in the air; when it hangs to the spoon in a drop, it is done. If the jelly is boiled too long it will lose its flavour and shrink very much. Pour it into pots, cover them with brandy papers, and keep them in a dry place. ”

“ It will be firm, and of excellent colour and flavour. Be sure to clean off the scum as it rises, both before and after the sugar is put in, or the preserve will not be clear. Juice of red currants, three pounds; juice of white currants, one pound: fifteen minutes. Sugar, two pounds: eight minutes. An excellent jelly may be made with equal parts of the juice of red and of white currants, and of raspberries, with the same proportion of sugar and degree of boiling as mentioned in the foregoing receipt.
Revenge is the Only Debt which is Wrong to Pay. ”

“ If convenient, put it in ice until required for table, then wring a cloth in boiling water, wrap it round the mould for a minute, and turn the jelly carefully out. Peaches, apricots, plums, apples, &c., are better for being boiled in a little clear syrup before they are laid in the jelly; strawberries, raspberries, grapes, cherries, and currants are put in raw. In winter, when fresh fruits are not obtainable, a very pretty jelly may be made with preserved fruits or brandy cherries: these, in a bright and clear jelly, have a very pretty effect ”

“ In the days of old, the jelly-fish was one of the retainers in waiting upon the Queen of the World under the Sea, at her palace in Riu Gu. In those days he had a shell, and as his head was hard, no one dared to insult him, or stick him with their horns, or pinch him with their claws, or scratch him with their nails, or brush rudely by him with their fins. In short, this fish instead of being a lump of jelly, as white and helpless as a pudding, as we see him now, was a lordly fellow that could get his back up and keep it high when he wished to. ”

“ The glasses were then placed in a sunny window, and, when cold, Adelaide wiped each glass around the top and on the outside with a damp cloth, poured melted paraffin over the jelly, shook it gently from side to side to exclude air, pasted on the labels and stored the jelly away in the preserve closet in the space allotted for jellies.
Crab Apple Jelly
The crab apples make a very handsome jelly, and as they are very small, mother did not think two dozen would be too many for Adelaide to prepare. ”