Currant Jelly and Currant Jelly with Apples

Pick some not too ripe red currants from their stalks; lay them in a copper preserving pan and set this on the fire; as soon as the fruits have dissolved strain the juice forcibly through a cloth into a vessel; pour this back into the pan and add one and a half pounds of sugar for each quart of juice. When the sugar has all melted place the pan on a hot fire and cook it until the preparation dropped from the skimmer forms into a jelly, or else if a drop be placed on a flat surface it will retain the shape of a bead and not spread, being careful to stir the liquid continuously with a skimmer. As soon as the jelly is cooked pour it into stone pots or heated glasses. In order to have it fine and clear no more than two gallons should be cooked at once.

Currant Jelly with Apples.—Prepare the currant juice as above and add an equal quantity of liquid in which apples have been cooked, then finish as for the above, when a currant and apple jelly will be obtained.