Home › The Principles of Cookery › Currants, to Bottle, for Tarts in Winter

Currants, to Bottle, for Tarts in Winter

Ascertain that the fruit has been gathered when it was quite dry, or it will not keep. Pick it and put it into clean, wide-mouthed, dry bottles. A few strawberries or raspberries may be added or not. Cover the fruit with water. Soak some bladder in water, tie a piece firmly over the top of each bottle, and wrap a little hay round the bottles; then put them into a pan of cold water, and let them stand upright without touching one another; the water should reach nearly to the necks of the bottles. Put the pan on the fire, and when the water is on the point of boiling, draw it to one side, and let it remain for half an hour. The bottles should not be taken out of the water until it is nearly cold. Tie strong paper over each of the bottles, and keep them in a bottle-rack in a cool, dry place, with the necks downwards. The fruit will keep good for years. The water must not boil. Shake the fruit well down, or the bottles will not be more than half full.