Currant Jelly and Plain Currant Jelly; Cranberry Jelly

Have one pound of currants free of stalks and one pound of powdered sugar; mix both together in a vessel without crusting the currants; when the sugar is dissolved pour the whole into a copper pan and stand it on the fire; after it has been boiling for five or six minutes the syrup will have cooked to the proper degree, that is, until it coats the skimmer and drops from it in beads. Now pour the fruit and syrup on to a sieve laid over a vessel fit to receive the liquid, and use this to fill jelly glasses; keep slightly warm for two hours, then leave to cool before covering the glasses with paper.

Another way is to select the currants when not too ripe; pick off all the stalks and put the fruit in a copper pan with three-quarters of their weight of powdered sugar; when this is partly melted stand the pan on a slow fire to bring the liquid to a boil while skimming; boil it once or twice only; skim well, strain through a napkin and pour into jelly glasses.

Plain.—Slightly cook ten pounds of currants with their stalks in a copper pan; pass them through a sieve having sufficiently fine meshes to prevent the seeds from passing; mix an equal weight of sugar to this juice; cook until it coats the skimmer and drops from it in beads, being careful to skim during the whole process of cooking. Fill some heated glasses or jars, and when cold cover with a round of paper soaked in brandy, then cover the top of the vessel with strong paper.

Cranberry Jelly.—Crush about two pounds of very ripe cranberries, dilute with a little water and strain the juice through a jelly bag. Pour this juice into an untinned copper pan and add a pound of sugar to each pint of liquid; let it cook on a good fire to the consistency of a jelly, following the directions found in No. 3668. As soon as it is finished pour it into small pots or glasses and leave to cool off. When the jelly is perfectly cold cover with round pieces of paper dipped in brandy, and cork up the pots or glasses to close them hermetically.