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Siberian Crab Apples, to Preserve Whole
No. 1.--Boil an inch of cinnamon, three or four cloves, and a small piece of whole ginger in a pint of water till it is pleasantly flavoured. Strain it, and make it into syrup by boiling with it for a quarter of an hour a pound of loaf sugar, and let it stand till cold. Put it into a pan, with a pint of Siberian crabs, which have been well wiped with a cloth and pricked with a needle about the stalks, and let all get hot together. Take the preparation off the fire, let it get cold, then heat it again, and repeat this process three times. When the crabs look clear, lift them out, put them into jars, and pour the syrup over them. Put brandy papers over the top, and cover the fruit in the usual way. If more convenient, the syrup may be boiled on three successive days. No. 2.--Take the crabs with an inch or more of stalk, wash them well, and prick them in three or four places round the stalk. Put them into a pan, and pour upon them as much boiling water as will barely cover them. When cold, drain them from the liquor, then boil the liquor with a pound of refined sugar to every pint. When it is thick and clear, pour it upon the crabs, and let them stand in a cool place for twenty-four hours. Put fruit and syrup into a pan, and make both scalding hot. Lift out the fruit, boil up the juice, and pour it upon the crabs. Repeat this process till the fruit looks clear, and be careful in these later boilings to let the syrup get quite cold before it is poured upon the fruit. Put the jam carefully into jars, and cover in the usual way. Time, five or six days. Probable cost, uncertain, Siberian crabs being seldom sold.