cold water, simmer it till the skins appear to crack, so that you may peel them off. Have ready, a thin clear syrup made of 1 lb. sugar, and a gill of water, put in the plums, give them a gentle boil, and put them by in a basin, till the next day; if they then appear done enough, drain them from the syrup, if not, boil again, and remain till the following day; then drain them, add the remainder of the sugar to the syrup, boil it till rich, and quite clear; put the plums into jars, pour the syrup over, leave them open till the next day, then put brandy papers over, and over them run mutton suet.
Jargonelle Pears.
Pare smoothly and thinly, some large, well shaped pears. Simmer in a thin syrup, and let them lie two days. Then pour off the syrup, add more sugar: simmer and scum it; then put the pears in, simmer till they look transparent, lift them out into pots, pour the syrup over, and tie closely. Rather more than the weight of fruit in sugar. A grain of pounded cochineal may be put in the syrup; lemon juice is an improvement.
Quinces.
Pare the quinces very thin, and put them into a stew-pan; cover with their parings, and fill the saucepan with hard water, set it over a slow fire, and keep the lid close that the steam may not escape; when the fruit is tender take it out, and put to it 1 quart of water, 2½ lbs. lump sugar, to make a clear syrup: put in the quinces, boil them ten or twelve minutes, and set them by, for four or five hours; then boil again five or six minutes, take them off the fire, and set them by two days: boil again, ten minutes, with the juice of 2 lemons. Let the quinces be quite cold, put them into broad pans, singly, and pour the syrup over. Cover with brandy papers, and skins over the whole.—Or: cut them in quarters, and to 5 lbs. fruit, put 3 lbs. sugar, and ½ pint water; lay a piece of white paper over, to keep in the steam, and let them simmer gently, three hours.
Fruit pastes are made by boiling the fruit with clarified sugar to a thick marmalade; moulded into thin cakes, and dried in a stove.
