The accomplisht cook: or, The art & mystery of cookery

in indifferent hot water to break them, & let them stand close cover'd in that hot water till a thin skin will come off with scraping, all this while they will look yellow; then put them into another skillet of hot water, and let them stand covered until they turn to a perfect green, then take them out, weigh them, take their weight in sugar and something more, and so preserve them. Clarifie the sugar with the white of an egg, and some water. _To preserve Apricocks being ripe._ Stone them, then weigh them with sugar, and take weight for weight, pare them and strow on the sugar, let them stand till the moisture of the apricocks hath wet the sugar, and stand in a sirrup: then set them on a soft fire, not suffering them to boil, till your sugar be all melted; then boil them a pretty space for half an hour, still stirring them in the sirrup, then set them by two hours, and boil them again till your sirrup be thick, and your apricocks look clear, boil up the sirrup higher, then take it off, and being cold put in the apricocks into a gally-pot or glass, close them up with a clean paper, and leather over all. _To preserve Peaches after the Venetian way._ Take twenty young peaches, part them in two, and take out the stones, then take as much sugar as they weigh, and some rose-water, put in the peaches, and make a sirrup that it may stand and stick to your fingers, let them boil softly a while, then lay them in a dish, and let them stand in the same two or three days, then set your sirrup on the fire, let it boil up, and then put in the peaches, and so preserve them. _To preserve Mellacattons._ Stone them and parboil them in water, then peel off the outward skin of them, they will boil as long as a piece of beef, and therefore you need not fear the breaking of them; when they are boil'd tender make sirrup of