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Dried Greengages

Select some perfectly sound greengages, cut off the brown end of the stalks but leave the remainder on; prick them all over with a pin, then put them in a pan with sufficient syrup of twenty-two degrees for them to float; set them over a smothered fire and leave for ten minutes. Turn the greengages and syrup into a large jar and cover them with vine leaves. On the following day strain off the syrup, boil up again, skim it and pour it back on the greengages. Repeat the operation of boiling for the two following days. Take the greengages out of the syrup and lay them a short distance from each other on a wire drainer placed on a baking-sheet; put them in a screen and dry them slowly. Boil a pound and a half of sugar to the pearl degree, squeeze in the juice of a lemon and work it against the sides of the pan with the bowl of a spoon until it has a dull white appearance, then throw in the dried greengages. Toss them about to give them a good coating, then lift them carefully out with a fork and place on the drainer, the stalk side upward. Dry the greengages slowly in a screen, then pack them away in boxes between layers of paper