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Fruit Syrups
Fruit syrups may be made like fruit juices, only using more sugar-at least half as much sugar as fruit juice.
This is a ratio rather than a recipe, cross-referenced to the fruit juice entry that precedes it in the canning chapter. The whole method rests on that reference, so read it alongside whatever juice procedure you are using.
- The ratio"At least half as much sugar as fruit juice" works out to roughly 1 cup sugar to 2 cups strained juice if the measure is by volume, as it most likely is here, and the text allows for more. That is on the light side compared with modern syrups, which are often 1:1 or heavier.
- Dissolve, then boil brieflyThe original gives no method beyond the cross-reference. In practice, stir the sugar into the juice until it is fully dissolved and bring it just to a boil; long boiling drives off the fresh fruit aroma and darkens the color.
- Strain first, not afterSediment and pulp are what make a syrup cloud and ferment. Drip the juice through a jelly bag or a double layer of damp cheesecloth without squeezing, and do not press it to hurry things along.
- Storage is the gap in the originalThe book assumes you will bottle and seal it as you would juice, but gives no times. Current practice is to fill hot into clean jars and either refrigerate for a few weeks, freeze, or process in a boiling-water bath following an up-to-date tested procedure for the specific fruit.
- Acid mattersBerries, currants, plums and citrus are acidic enough to keep well as syrups. Figs are low-acid and need added lemon juice or citric acid if canned; melon is not recommended for boiling-water canning at all and should be chilled or frozen.
- YieldExpect about 2½ cups of finished syrup from 2 cups juice plus 1 cup sugar, a little less if it is boiled. Diluted about one part syrup to five parts cold or sparkling water, that makes roughly ten tall glasses.
Bottled fruit syrups belonged to the era when a household kept its own sodas. Before commercial bottling reached every grocery, the summer surplus of raspberries, currants and cherries went into juice for jelly and into syrup for drinking, diluted with cold water or charged water and served over ice, or poured on puddings and ices. Mrs. Fryer's entry is a short note filed next to fruit juices, standing on the reader's knowledge of the neighboring page rather than repeating it. Recipes that assume you have already read the one above them are common in period cookbooks.