Elizabeth Craigs Guide To Making Jam.

Taken from "Cooking With Elizabeth Craig ( A cookery book for the housewife of modest income), 1949.

Preserving.

"Some housewives limit their preserving to making marmalade in the Spring and jellies in the Summer and Autumn. I preserve all year round as fruit and vegetables become cheap and plentiful. When I find my jam giving out between seasons, I make dried apricot jam, orange and pineapple honey as well as lemon cheese and grapefruit and lemon marmalade.

RULES FOR MAKING JAMS AND JELLIES.

1. Use dry fruit and pure cane sugar when available.

2. Choose fruit just ripe, unless otherwise stipulated.

3. Boil steadily, skimming carefully.

4. Allow fruit to come to the boil before adding sugar. Stir till sugar is dissolved before bringing again to boil..

5. When ready to pot, stand jam in pan for five minutes then stir well before pouring into jars, to prevent fruit rising in pots.

6. Pot in heated jars and cover. store in a dry airy cupboard, when cold.

7. Fruit lacking in both acid and pectin, such as blackberries, cherries, vegetable marrow and strawberries, set better when the juice of 1 lemon is added to every pound of fruit.

TO PREPARE FRUIT FOR PRESERVING.

1. Pick over soft fruits such as all berries. Only rinse quickly if necessary.

2. Wash currants, gooseberries and cherries.

3. Damsons and plums can be wiped, or washed.

4. Wash and dry lemons, oranges and grapefruit.

5. Discard any bruised fruit and cut out any blemishes.

6. Dried fruits should be thoroughly washed and drained.

TO MAKE JAM.

There are different ways of making jam, but I prefer this method. Place prepared fruit in a preserving pan, and stand pan at the back of the kitchen range or on a slow gas burner, till the juice begins to flow, then place pan on fire, or if cooking by gas, increase the heat and bring to the boil. Cook for a few minutes, then add 1/2 oz. butter, wjich clears the jam and saves the trouble of skimming. Add sugar, heated in the oven and boil quickly till the "jell" stage is reached- when a drop will hang from the stirring spoon. Cool for five minutes, then pour gently into heated glass pots. The pots should be quite full.Wipe the rims and the outsides free from any drops of jam. Cover at once and label and store, when cold in a dry and airy cupboard.

Apple and Blackberry Cheese.

5 1b tart apples.

Water.

5 1b blackberries.

Sugar.

Peel and core the apples. Place in a saucepan with just enough water to prevent burning. Cover and stew gently till soft. Add blackberries. Stir for a few moments, then boil for five minutes. Pass through a fine sieve, a little at a time, scraping the sieve clean underneath from time to time. Weigh sieved fruit and turn into a preserving pan. Add 3/4 1b. sugar for every pound fruit pulp. Boil quickly for 30 minutes or until cheese sets when tested. Skim well. Pot at once.

Ginger Marmalade.

3 1b. tart apples.

1 quart water.

Sugar.

1 3/4 1b. preserved ginger.

Wash and dry apples very carefully. Cut them into thick slices without either peeling or coring. Put all slices into a saucepan with the water. simmer gently till the fruit is well pulped, then strain through a jelly bag. Aloow to drip for several hours. when all the juice is in the basin, weigh it and for every pound of juice add 1 1b. sugar. Turn juice and sugar into a preserving pan, add ginger cut into small pieces, then bring to the boil. Boil quickly for 8-10 minutes or till preserve sets when tested on a cold plate. Pot and cover while hot.

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