Skip to content

Marmalades, Preserves and Canned Fruits

A historical recipe from Mary at the farm, and book of recipes compiled during her visit among the "Pennsylvania Germans", by Thomas, Edith M. (Edith May) (1915).

A historical recipe

Mary at the farm, and book of recipes compiled during her visit among the "Pennsylvania Germans", by Thomas, Edith M. (Edith May) (1915). Project Gutenberg eBook #13545.

From an old book: a historical recipe, not current advice. Its methods, additives and storage may be unsafe by today's standards. Its words name: home canning or sealing in jars, preserving or pickling. Check current food-safety guidance before following this.

Source and licence

From Mary at the farm, and book of recipes compiled during her visit among the "Pennsylvania Germans", by Thomas, Edith M. (Edith May) (1915). Digitised by Project Gutenberg, eBook #13545 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13545). Public domain in the USA; its status may differ elsewhere.

Read the original Public domain in the USA

What was changed: As printed, from the book's text; Project Gutenberg's header and licence removed. Ingredient lines were read out of the text by a program. A historical recipe, not current advice.

United States. Associated with United States by the book is about Pennsylvania Dutch cookery (Pennsylvania Dutch); the recipe itself names no place (confidence 0.4). "Associated with" means only that the evidence named here links this recipe to that place. A recipe isn't labelled as representing an entire country because a source associates it with one, and regional origins are kept where the source gives them.

  • Home canning. Old canning methods can let botulism through. Use current tested canning guidance.
  • Preserving. Old preserving methods may not make food safe to keep. Use current tested guidance.

Create an image with FoodStudio Made by our AI generator from your own prepaid SecondMem credits. We keep no picture from the source.

Ingredients

Method

  1. Young housewives, if they would be successful in "doing up fruit," should be very particular about sterilizing fruit jars, both tops and rubbers, before using.
  2. Heat the fruit to destroy all germs, then seal in air-tight jars while fruit is scalding hot.
  3. Allow jars of canned fruit or vegetables to stand until perfectly cold.
  4. Then, even should you think the tops perfectly tight, you will probably be able to give them another turn.
  5. Carefully run the dull edge of a knife blade around the lower edge of jar cap to cause it to fit tightly.
  6. This flattens it close to the rubber, making it air-tight.
  7. To sterilize jars and tops, place in a pan of cold water, allow water to come to a boil and stand in hot water one hour.
  8. For making jelly, use fruit, under-ripe.
  9. It will jell more easily, and, not being as sweet as otherwise, will possess a finer flavor.
  10. For jelly use an equal amount of sugar to a pint of juice.
  11. The old rule holds good--a pound of sugar to a pint of juice.
  12. Cook fifteen to twenty minutes.
  13. Fruit juice will jell more quickly if the sugar is heated in the oven before being added.
  14. For preserving fruit, use about 3/4 of a pound of sugar to 1 pound of fruit and seal in air-tight glass jars.
  15. For canning fruit, use from 1/3 to 1/2 the quantity of sugar that you have of fruit.
  16. When making jelly, too long cooking turns the mixture into a syrup that will not jell.
  17. Cooking fruit with sugar too long a time causes fruit to have a strong, disagreeable flavor.
  18. Apples, pears and peaches were pared, cut in quarters and dried at the farm for Winter use.
  19. Sour cherries were pitted, dried and placed in glass jars, alternately with a sprinkling of granulated sugar.
  20. Pieces of sassafras root were always placed with dried apples, peaches, etc.