Kumquat Preserves

A four-to-one sugar syrup and a long hard boil: the method is sound, but the quantities and the sealing instruction both need translating.

• The syrupFour pints of sugar means eight cups by volume, roughly 3 1/2 lb, to two cups of water. That is a very heavy syrup indeed, and it will candy the fruit rather than merely sweeten it.
• Boil, do not simmerThe parenthesis is the hinge of the recipe. Traditional preserving practice holds that citrus rind toughens if cooked slowly in heavy syrup, so keep the pan at a steady rolling boil rather than a simmer. Use a wide, heavy pan so the syrup does not scorch.
• TimeAn hour and a half may well be longer than is needed. Watch the syrup rather than the clock: at 220-222F it will sheet from a spoon and set, and the fruit will be translucent. Depending on the fruit, that point can come well before the hour and a half is up.
• Prepare the fruitThe original assumes you know to wash and prick or slit whole kumquats so syrup can enter; unpierced whole fruit bursts and shrivels. Blanching them once or twice in plain boiling water first softens the rind and takes off some bitterness.
• Quantity of fruitNo amount is given. That volume of syrup will handle about 2 lb of kumquats comfortably and yields roughly three pints of preserves.
• Sealing"Seal at once on removing from fire" is open-kettle canning, which current practice has abandoned because neither the seal nor the contents are reliably sterilised. Fill hot jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace and process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes instead.
• ServingThe alternative given at the end is the better one for a small batch: cool the fruit in its syrup, refrigerate, and spoon it over cream, thick yoghurt, or plain cake. Kept in the refrigerator it will hold for weeks.