The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined

to a pint of the juice a pound and a half of loaf sugar; boil it over a brisk fire till of a good syrup, being careful in the skimming, and preserve it in bottles close corked. N. B. The syrup may be cleared with two eggs. _To preserve Cucumbers._ TAKE fresh gathered gerkins of a large size, and lay them in salt and water for two days; then drain and wipe them dry, put them into glasses, make boiling-hot a mixture of sugar, vinegar, and water, a small quantity of each; pour it over the cucumbers, cover and set them in a warm place, likewise boil the liquor and pour over them for three successive days. Then take a quart of the liquor, add to it plenty of cloves, mace, ginger, and lemon peel. Boil these ingredients for half an hour, strain and put to it plenty of sifted sugar, clear it with whites of eggs if requisite, boil to a strong syrup, and put it to the gerkins. When wiped dry and in the glasses, cover them down very close. _To preserve Currants._ TAKE large bunches of ripe currants, make a thin syrup with sugar and water, set it over a fire, when it boils put in the fruit, and let them remain in a cold place till the next day; then take them out carefully, lay them on a dish, make the liquor boil again, and put in the currants, taking care not to let them break. Take them out a second time, add more sugar to the syrup, with a quart of currant juice; clarify it, boil it to a strong syrup, and when it is cold put the currants into glasses, pour the syrup over, and tie them down close. _To preserve Barberries._ BRUISE a quart of ripe barberries, add a quart of spring water, put them over a fire, when boiling run the liquor through a fine sieve, and put with it three pounds of clarified sugar. Then add a sufficient quantity of large bunches of ripe barberries, put them over a fire, when