Currant Jam, Red
INGREDIENTS. - To every lb. of fruit allow lb. of loaf sugar. AVERAGE COST, 6d. per lb. pot.
Let the fruit be gathered on a fine day; weigh it, and then strip the currants from the stalks; put them into a preserving-pan with sugar in the above proportion; stir them, and boil them for about 3/4 hour. Carefully remove the scum as it rises. Put the jam into pots, and, when cold, cover with oiled papers; over these put a piece of tissue-paper, brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg; press the paper round the top of the pot, and, when dry, the covering will be quite hard and airtight.
TIME. to hour, reckoning from the time the jam boils all over.
SEASONABLE. - Make this in July.
Currant Jelly, Black. INGREDIENTS.-Black currants; to every pint of juice allow 1/4 pint of water, 1 lb. of loaf sugar. AVERAGE COST, from 8d. to 10d. per pot.
Strip the currants from the stalks, which may be done in an expeditious manner by holding the bunch in one hand, and passing a small silver fork down the currants: they will then readily fall from the stalks.
Put them into a jar, place this jar in a saucepan of boiling water, and simmer them until their juice is extracted; then strain them, and to every pint of juice allow the above proportion of sugar and water; stir these ingredients together cold CURRANT JELLY. until the sugar is dissolved; place the preserving-pan on the fire, and boil the jelly for about 1/2 hour, reckoning from the time it commences to boil all over, and carefully remove the scum as it rises. If the jelly becomes firm when a little is put on a plate, it is done; it should then be put into small pots, and covered the same as the jam in the preceding recipe. If the jelly is wanted very clear, the fruit should not be squeezed dry; but, of course, so much juice will not be obtained. If the fruit is not much squeezed, it ma may be converted into a jam for immediate eating, by boiling it with a little common sugar: this answers very well for a nursery preserve.
TIME. About hour to extract the juice; hour to boil the jelly.
SEASONABLE. - Make this in July.
A plain boiled currant preserve of the pre-pectin era, when the fruit's own high acid and pectin did all the work. The proportions in the ingredient line have lost their fractions, so weigh by the standard Victorian rule below rather than trusting the printed figure.
- Sugar proportionThe fraction has dropped out of the ingredient line; the figure called for is most likely three-quarters of a pound of loaf sugar to every pound of fruit. Redcurrants are acidic and pectin-rich enough to gel at that ratio; much below it the jam keeps poorly.
- Loaf sugarLoaf sugar was refined white sugar sold in a hard cone and broken up for use. Ordinary granulated sugar is the direct equivalent; preserving sugar, with its larger crystals, dissolves more slowly and throws less scum.
- Preserving-panA wide, heavy, unlined copper or brass pan. Any wide stainless or enamelled pan works, as long as the surface area is large — depth slows evaporation and lengthens the boil, which dulls the colour.
- Boiling timeThree-quarters of an hour is long by modern standards and was reckoned for a large batch over a coal range. A domestic batch of two to three pounds of fruit will usually reach setting point in 10 to 20 minutes of a rolling boil. Test on a chilled saucer rather than by the clock.
- Stripping the currantsThe fork method given in the second entry works equally well here: hold the bunch and run the tines of a fork down the stalk. Do it before weighing if you want accuracy, since stalks are a noticeable share of the weight.
- Extracting juice for the jellySetting a jar of fruit in a pan of simmering water is a gentle water bath that gives a very clear juice. A slow oven, or a covered pan over low heat with a splash of water, does the same thing. Allow about an hour either way.
- StrainingLet the juice drip through a scalded jelly bag without pressing if you want it bright; squeezing forces pulp through and clouds the set. The pressed pulp can be reboiled with sugar as the recipe suggests, but treat that as a fresh preserve to eat within a week or two in the refrigerator.
- Covering the potsOiled papers under egg-glazed tissue was the standard Victorian seal and is not airtight by modern reckoning. Use sterilised jars with two-piece lids or new twist-tops, filled to within a quarter inch of the rim while the jam is near boiling, and water-bath process for storage at room temperature.
- YieldTwo pounds of fruit with an equal weight of sugar gives roughly three pounds of jam, or about six half-pound jars.
Redcurrants were a kitchen-garden staple in Britain long before they were a market fruit, valued less for eating raw than for the reliability of their set: they carry more pectin and acid than almost any other soft fruit, so a cook could turn out a firm preserve with nothing but sugar and a hot pan. That reliability is part of why redcurrant jelly became the fixed accompaniment to mutton, venison and hare on the English table. The "seasonable in July" note is a reminder of how tightly domestic preserving was tied to the calendar — the whole year's supply had to be made in the few weeks the bushes were in fruit, and the egg-glazed tissue cover described here was the household's best answer to keeping air out of the pot until the following summer.