Mrs Beetons Jams and Preserves Revisited
Blackcurrant Jam
Blackcurrants
To every 450g (1lb) of Fruit, weighed before being stripped from the stalks, allow:
340g (12oz) Sugar
150ml (¼ pint) Water
Let the fruit be very ripe and gathered on a dry day.
Remove blackcurrant stalks and put into a preserving pan, with 150ml (¼ pint) of water to each 450g (1lb) of fruit.
Boil together for 10 minutes.
Add the sugar and boil the jam again for 30 minutes, from the time when the jam simmers equally all over or longer,
If it doesn't appear to set nicely when a little is poured on to a plate.
Keep stirring to prevent it from burning, carefully remove all the scum and when done.
Pour into sterilised jars with airtight lids.
Let it cool before sealing.
Great attention must be paid to the stirring of this jam, as it is very liable to burn, on account of the thickness of the juice.
Time: 10 minutes to boil the fruit and water. 30 minutes with the sugar or longer.
Sufficient: Allow from 6 to 7 quarts of currants to make 1 dozen pots of jam, each pot to hold 450g (1lb)
Seasonable: Make this in July.
BLACK-CURRANT JAM
1530. INGREDIENTS - To every lb. of fruit, weighed before being stripped from the stalks, allow 3/4 lb. of loaf sugar, 1 gill of water.
Mode - Let the fruit be very ripe, and gathered on a dry day. Strip it from the stalks, and put it into a preserving-pan, with a gill of water to each lb. of fruit; boil these together for 10 minutes; then add the sugar, and boil the jam again for 30 minutes, reckoning from the time when the jam simmers equally all over, or longer, should it not appear to set nicely when a little is poured on to a plate. Keep stirring it to prevent it from burning, carefully remove all the scum, and when done, pour it into pots. Let it cool, cover the top of the jam with oiled paper, and the top of the jars with a piece of tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg: this, when cold, forms a hard stiff cover, and perfectly excludes the air. Great attention must be paid to the stirring of this jam, as it is very liable to burn, on account of the thickness of the juice.
Time - 10 minutes to boil the fruit and water; 30 minutes with the sugar, or longer.
Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. for a pot capable of holding 1 lb.
Sufficient - Allow from 6 to 7 quarts of currants to make 1 dozen pots of jam, each pot to hold 1 lb.
Seasonable - Make this in July.
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