The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet Part 9

Take any sort of pretty Flowers you can get, and have in readiness some Rosewater made very slippery by laying Gum Arabick therein.

Dip your Flowers very well, and swing it out again, and stick them in a sieve to dry in the Sun, some other of them you may dust over with fine Flower, and some with searced Sugar, after you have wetted them, and so dry them.

Either of them will be very fine, but those with Sugar will not keep so well as the other; they are good to set forth Banquets, and to garnish Dishes, and will look very fresh, and have their right smell.

150. _Conserve of Barberries._

Take Barberries, infuse them in a pot as other Fruits spoken of before, then strain them, and to every pound of liquor take two pounds of Sugar, boil them together over the fire till it will come from the bottom of the Posnet, and then put it into Gally-pots and keep it with fine Sugar strewed over it.

151. _To preserve Barberries without Fire._

Take your fairest bunches and lay a Lay of fine Sugar into the bottom of the pot, and then a Lay of Barberries, and then Sugar again, till all be in, and be sure to cover them deep with Sugar last of all, and cover your pot with a bladder wet and tyed on, that no Air get in, and they will keep and be good, and much better to garnish dishes with than pickled Barberries, and are very pleasant to eat.

152. _To Candy Almonds to look as though they had their Sh.e.l.ls on._

Take Jordan Almonds and blanch them, then take fine Sugar, wet it with water, and boil it to a Candy height, colour it with Cochineal, and put in a grain of Ambergreece; when you see it at a Candy height, put in your Almonds well dried from the Water, and shake them over the fire till you see they are enough, then lay them in a Stove or some other warm place.

153. _To Candy Carrot Roots._

Take of the best and Boil them tender then pare them, and cut them in such pieces as you like; then take fine Sugar boiled to a Candy height with a little Water, then put in your Roots, and boil them till you see they will Candy; but you must first boil them with their weight in Sugar and some Water, or else they will not be sweet enough; when they are enough, lay them into a Box, and keep them dry: thus you may do green Peascods when they are very young, if you put them into boiling water, and let them boil close covered till they are green, and then boiled in a Syrup, and then the Candy, they will look very finely, and are good to set forth Banquets, but have no pleasant taste.

154. _To make Syrup of Violets._

Take Violets clipped clean from the Whites, to every Ounce of Violets take two Ounces of Water, so steep them upon Embers till the Water be as blew as a Violet, and the Violets turned white, then put in more Violets into the same Water, and again the third time, then take to every Quart of Water four Pounds of fine Sugar, and boil it to a Syrup, and keep it for your use; thus you may also make Syrup of Roses.

155. _To make a Syrup for any Cough._

Take four Ounces of Licoras sc.r.a.ped and bruised, Maidenhair one Ounce, Aniseeds half an Ounce, steep them in Spring water half a day, then boil it half away; the first quant.i.ty of water which you steep them in must be four Pints, and when it is half boiled away, then add to it one Pound of fine Sugar, and boil it to a Syrup, and take two spoonfuls at a time every night when you go to rest.

156. _A pretty Sweet-meat with Roses and Almonds._

Take half a Pound of Blanched Almonds beaten very fine with a little Rosewater, two Ounces of the Leaves of Damask Roses beaten fine, then take half a pound of Sugar, and a little more, wet it with water, and boil it to a Candy height, then put in your Almonds and Roses, and a grain of Musk or Ambergreece, and let them boil a little while together, and then put it into Gla.s.ses, and it will be a fine sort of Marmalade.

157. _The best sort of Hartshorn Jelly to serve in a Banquet._

Take six Ounces of Hartshorn, put it into two Quarts of Water and let it infuse upon Embers all night, then boil it up quick, and when you find by the Spoon you stir it with, that it will stick to your mouth, if you do touch it, and that you find the Water to be much wasted, strain it out, and put in a little more than half a Pound of fine Sugar, a little Rosewater, a Blade of Mace, and a Stick of Cinamon, the Juice of as many Limons will give it a good taste, with two Grains of Ambergreece, set it over a slow fire, and do not let it boil, but when you find it to be very thick in your mouth, then put it softly into Gla.s.ses; and set it into a Stove, and that will make it to jelly the better.

158. _To make Orange or Limon Chips._

Take the parings of either of these cut thin, and boil them in several waters till they be tender, then let them lie in cold water a while, then take their weight in Sugar or more, and with as much water as will wet it, boil it and sc.u.m it, then drain your Chips from the cold water, and put them into a Gally-pot; and pour this Syrup boiling hot upon them, so let them stand till the next day, then heat the Syrup again and pour over them, so do till you see they are very clear, every day do so till the Syrup be very thick, and then lay them out in a Stove to dry.

159. _To make Cakes of Almonds in thin slices._

Take four Ounces of Jordan Almonds, blanch them in cold water, and slice them thin the long way, then mix them with little thin pieces of Candied Orange and Citron Pill, then take some fine Sugar boiled to a Candy height with some water, put in your Almonds, and let them boil till you perceive they will Candy, then with a spoon take them out, and lay them in little Lumps upon a Pie-plate or sleeked Paper, and before they be quite cold strew Caraway Comfits on them, and so keep them very dry.

160. _To make Chips of any Fruit._

Take any preserved Fruit, drain it from the syrup, and cut it thin, then boil Sugar to a Candy height, and then put your Chips therein, and shake them up and down till you see they will Candy, and then lay them out; or take raw Chips of Fruit boiled first in Syrup, and then a Candy boiled, and put over them hot, and so every day, till they begin to sparkle as they lie, then take them out, and dry them.

161. _To preserve sweet Limons._

Take the fairest, and chip them thin, and put them into cold water as you chip them, then boil them in several waters till a straw may run through them, then to every pound of limon, take a pound and half of fine Sugar, and a pint of water, boil it together, and sc.u.m it, then let your Limons scald in it a little, and set them by till the next day, and every other day heat the syrup only and put to them; so do 9 times, and then at last boil them in the Syrup till they be clear, then take them out, and put them into Pots, and boil the Syrup a little more, and put to them; if you will have them in Jelly, make your Syrup with Pippin water.

162. _To make a Custard for a Consumption._

Take four Quarts of Red Cows Milk, four Ounces of Conserve of Red Roses, prepared Pearl, prepared Coral, and white Amber, of each one Dram, two Ounces of white Sugar Candy, one grain of Ambergreece, put these into an earthen pot with some leaf gold, and the yolks and whites of twelve Eggs, a little Mace and Cinamon, and as much fine Sugar as will sweeten it well; Paste the Pot over and bake it with brown Bread, and eat of it every day so long as it will last.

163. _To make Chaculato._

Take half a Pint of Claret Wine, boil it a little, then sc.r.a.pe some Chaculato very fine and put into it, and the Yolks of two Eggs, stir them well together over a slow Fire till it be thick, and sweeten it with Sugar according to your taste.

164. _To dry any Sort of Plumbs._

Take to every pound of Plumbs three quarters of a pound of Sugar, boil it to a Candy height with a little water, then put in your Plumbs ready stoned, and let them boil very gently over a slow fire, if they be white ones they may boil a little faster, then let them by till the next day, then boil them well, and take them often from the fire for fear of breaking, let them lie in their Syrup for four or five days, then lay them out upon Sieves to dry, in a warm Oven or Stove, turning them upon clean Sieves twice every day, and fill up all the broken places, and put the skins over them, when they are dry, wash off the clamminess of them with warm water, and dry them in the Oven, and they will look as though the dew were upon them.

165. _To make Jelly of Quinces._

Take your Quinces, pare them and core them, and cut them in quarters, then put them into a new earthen pot with a narrow mouth, put in some of the cores in the bottom, and then the Quinces, paste it up and bake it with brown Bread, then run it thorough a bagg of boulting stuff as fast as you can, and crush it pretty hard, so long as it will run clear, to every pound of it take a pound of fine Sugar, and put into it, and let it stand till it be dissolved, then set it over a slow fire, and sc.u.m it well, and keep it stirring till it jelly, then put it into Gla.s.ses and keep it in a stove.

166. _To make a Posset._

Take a Quart of White-wine and a quart of Water, boil whole Spice in them, then take twelve Eggs and put away half the Whites, beat them very well, and take the Wine from the fire, then put in your Eggs and stir them very well, then set it on a slow fire, and stir it till it be thick, sweeten it with Sugar, and strew beaten Spice thereon, then serve it in.

You may put in Ambergreece if you like it, or one perfumed Lozenge.

167. _To make a Sack Posset._

Take two quarts of Cream and boil it with Whole Spice, then take twelve Eggs well beaten and drained, take the Cream from the fire, and stir in the Eggs, and as much Sugar as will sweeten it, then put in so much Sack as will make it taste well, and set it on the fire again, and let it stand a while, then take a Ladle and raise it up gently from the bottom of the Skillet you make it in, and break it as little as you can, and so do till you see it be thick enough; then put it into a Bason with the Ladle gently; if you do it too much it will whey, and that is not good.

168. _Another way for a Posset._