Part 217 (1/2)

1825. INGREDIENTS.--2 oz. of bitter almonds, 1 oz. of sweet ditto, 1 lb.

of loaf sugar, the rinds of 3 lemons, 1 quart of Irish whiskey or gin, 1 tablespoonful of clarified honey, 4 pint of new milk.

_Mode_.--Blanch and pound the almonds, and mix with them the sugar, which should also be pounded. Boil the milk; let it stand till quite cold; then mix all the ingredients together, and let them remain for 10 days, shaking them every day. Filter the mixture through blotting-paper, bottle off for use in small bottles, and seal the corks down. This will be found useful for flavouring many sweet dishes.

_Average cost_, 2s. 9d.

_Sufficient_ to make about 24 pints of Noyeau.

_Seasonable_.--May be made at any time.

ORANGE BRANDY.

(_Excellent_.)

1826. INGREDIENTS.--To every 1 gallon of brandy allow 3/4 pint of Seville orange-juice, 1-1/4 lb. of loaf sugar.

_Mode_.--To bring out the full flavour of the orange-peel, rub a few lumps of the sugar on 2 or 3 unpared oranges, and put these lumps to the rest. Mix the brandy with the orange-juice, strained, the rinds of 6 of the oranges pared very thin, and the sugar. Let all stand in a closely-covered jar for about 3 days, stirring it 3 or 4 times a day.

When clear, it should be bottled and closely corked for a year; it will then be ready for use, but will keep any length of time. This is a most excellent stomachic when taken pure in small quant.i.ties; or, as the strength of the brandy is very little deteriorated by the other ingredients, it may be diluted with water.

_Time_.--To be stirred every day for 3 days.

_Average cost_, 7s.

_Sufficient_ to make 2 quarts. _Seasonable_.--Make this in March.

A VERY SIMPLE AND EASY METHOD OF MAKING A VERY SUPERIOR ORANGE WINE.

1827. INGREDIENTS.--90 Seville oranges, 32 lbs. of lump sugar, water.

_Mode_.--Break up the sugar into small pieces, and put it into a dry, sweet 9-gallon cask, placed in a cellar or other storehouse, where it is intended to be kept. Have ready close to the cask two large pans or wooden keelers, into one of which put the peel of the oranges pared quite thin, and into the other the pulp after the juice has been squeezed from it. Strain the juice through a piece of double muslin, and put it into the cask with the sugar. Then pour about 1-1/2 gallon of cold spring water on both the peels and pulp; let it stand for 24 hours, and then strain it into the cask; add more water to the peels and pulp when this is done, and repeat the same process every day for a week: it should take about a week to fill up the cask. Be careful to apportion the quant.i.ty as nearly as possible to the seven days, and to stir the contents of the cask each day. On the ”third' day after the cask is full,--that is, the 'tenth' day after the commencement of making,--the cask may be securely bunged down. This is a very simple and easy method, and the wine made according to it will be p.r.o.nounced to be most excellent. There is no troublesome boiling, and all fermentation takes place in the cask. When the above directions are attended to, the wine cannot fail to be good. It should be bottled in 8 or 9 months, and will be fit for use in a twelve month after the time of making. Ginger wine may be made in precisely the same manner, only, with the 9-gallon cask for ginger wine, 2 lbs. of the best whole ginger, 'bruised', must be put with the sugar. It will be found convenient to tie the ginger loosely in a muslin bag.

_Time_.--Altogether, 10 days to make it.

_Average cost_, 2s. 6d. per gallon. _Sufficient_ for 9 gallons.

_Seasonable_.--Make this in March, and bottle it the following January.

RASPBERRY VINEGAR.

1828. INGREDIENTS.--To every 3 pints of the best vinegar allow 4-1/2 pints of freshly-gathered raspberries; to each pint of liquor allow 1 lb. of pounded loaf sugar, 1 winegla.s.sful of brandy.

_Mode_.--Let the raspberries be freshly gathered; pick them from the stalks, and put 1-1/2 pint of them into a stone jar; pour 3 pints of the best vinegar over them, and let them remain for 24 hours; then strain the liquor over another 1-1/2 pint of fresh raspberries. Let them remain another 24 hours, and the following day repeat the process for the third time; then drain off the liquor without pressing, and pa.s.s it through a jelly-bag (previously wetted with plain vinegar), into a stone jar. Add to every pint of the liquor 1 lb. of pounded loaf sugar; stir them together, and, when the sugar is dissolved, cover the jar; set it upon the fire in a saucepan of boiling water, and let it boil for an hour, removing the sc.u.m as fast as it rises; add to each pint a gla.s.s of brandy, bottle it, and seal the corks. This is an excellent drink in cases of fevers and colds: it should be diluted with cold water, according to the taste or requirement of the patient.

_Time_.--To be boiled 1 hour. Average cost, 1s. per pint.

_Sufficient_ to make 2 quarts.