Foods of England - Greengage Jam

Greengage Jam

Preserves

Original Receipt from Mrs.B

GREENGAGE JAM.
1552. INGREDIENTS. - To every lb. of fruit, weighed before being stoned, allow 3/4 lb. of lump sugar.
Mode. - Divide the greengages, take out the stones, and put them into a preserving-pan. Bring the fruit to a boil, then add the sugar, and keep stirring it over a gentle fire until it is melted. Remove all the scum as it rises, and, just before the jam is done, boil it rapidly for 5 minutes. To ascertain when it is sufficiently boiled, pour a little on a plate, and if the syrup thickens and appears firm, it is done. Have ready half the kernels blanched; put them into the jam, give them one boil, and pour the preserve into pots. When cold, cover down with oiled papers, and, over these, tissue-paper brushed over on both sides with the white of an egg.
Time. - 3/4 hour after the sugar is added.
Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. per lb. pot.
Sufficient. - Allow about 1-1/2 pint of fruit for every lb. pot of jam.
Seasonable. - Make this in August or September.

TO PRESERVE AND DRY GREENGAGES.
1553. INGREDIENTS. - To every lb. of sugar allow 1 lb. of fruit, 1/4 pint of water.
Mode. - For this purpose, the fruit must be used before it is quite ripe, and part of the stalk must be left on. Weigh the fruit, rejecting all that is in the least degree blemished, and put it into a lined saucepan with the sugar and water, which should have been previously boiled together to a rich syrup. Boil the fruit in this for 10 minutes, remove it from the fire, and drain the greengages. The next day, boil up the syrup and put in the fruit again, and let it simmer for 3 minutes, and drain the syrup away. Continue this process for 5 or 6 days, and the last time place the greengages, when drained, on a hair sieve, and put them in an oven or warm spot to dry; keep them in a box, with paper between each layer, in a place free from damp.
Time. - 10 minutes the first time of boiling.
Seasonable. - Make this in August or September.

PRESERVED GREENGAGES IN SYRUP.
1554. INGREDIENTS. - To every lb. of fruit allow 1 lb. of loaf sugar 1/4 pint of water.
Mode. - Boil the sugar and water together for about 10 minutes; divide the greengages, take out the stones, put the fruit into the syrup, and let it simmer gently until nearly tender. Take it off the fire, put it into a large pan, and, the next day, boil it up again for about 10 minutes with the kernels from the stones, which should be blanched. Put the fruit carefully into jars, pour over it the syrup, and, when cold, cover down, so that the air is quite excluded. Let the syrup be well skimmed both the first and second day of boiling, otherwise it will not be clear.
Time. - 10 minutes to boil the syrup; 1/4 hour to simmer the fruit the first day, 10 minutes the second day.
Average cost, from 6d. to 8d. per lb. pot.
Sufficient. - Allow about 1 pint of fruit to fill a 1-lb. pot.
Seasonable. - Make this in August or September.

Original Receipt from 'Cassell's Dictionary of Cookery' (Cassell 1883)

Greengage Jam. - Choose greengages which are fully ripe; weigh them, and allow three-quarter of a pound of sugar to every pound of fruit. Remove the stones and skins, and strew over the plums half of the sugar, pounded and sifted. Let them stand for five or six hours. Put them into a preserving-pan, and let them simmer until reduced to pulp; add the remainder of the sugar, and boil three-quarters of an liquor longer. If the moisture does not sufficiently evaporate - all plum jams are apt to ferment - a few minutes before the jam is taken from the fire add a quarter of the kernels, blanched and sliced. Put the jam into jars; put oiled paper over them, and cover the tops of the jars with thin paper, dipped in gum. Praobable cost, 8d. per pound. Sufficient, a pint and a half of fruit for one pound of jam.

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