Originally published 22 October 2009.

I decided to be festive this month and, thus, a recipe for “Preserved Pumpkin” from Miss Leslie’s Seventy-Five Receipts.

Preserved Pumpkin

Cut slices from a fine high-coloured pumpkin, and cut the slices into chips about the thickness of a dollar. The chips should be of an equal size, six inches in length and an inch broad. Weigh them, and allow to each pound of pumpkin chips, a pound of loaf-sugar. Have ready a sufficient number of fine lemons, pare off the yellow rind, and lay it aside. Cut the lemons in half, and squeeze the juice into a bowl. Allow a gill of juice to each pound of pumpkin.

Put the pumpkin into a broad pan, laying the sugar among it. Pour the lemon-juice over it. Cover the pan, and let the pumpkin chips, sugar and lemon-juice, set all night.

Early in the morning put the whole into a preserving pan, and boil all together (skimming it well) till the pumpkin becomes clear and crisp, but not till it breaks. It should have the appearance of lemon-candy. You may, if you choose, put some lemon-peel with it, cut in very small pieces.

Half an hour’s boiling (or a little more) is generally sufficient.

When it is done, take out the pumpkin, spread it on a large dish, and strain sirup through a bag. Put the pumpkin into your jars or glasses, pour the sirup over it, and tie it up with brandy paper.

If properly done, this is a very fine sweetmeat. The taste of the pumpkin will be lost in that of the lemon and sugar, and the sirup is particularly pleasant. It is eaten without cream, like preserved ginger. It may be laid on puff-paste shells after they are baked.

To make this recipe I bought two pie pumpkins (2 for 5 at the grocery store) and a five pound bag of sugar. I experimented on one, not sure if I am going to do the same with the other because the first was a literal pain in the hand. The recipe doesn’t specify, but I removed the hull and got a blister for my trouble. Also, its hard to give an ingredient list for this as its kind of like making jam, the results are below.

You will need:

Pumpkin

Sugar

Lemons

1. Carve up your pumpkins and remove the hull, cut the pumpkin into long slender pieces. Weigh the pumpkin and put it in your pot. For every pound of pumpkin, add a pound of sugar to the mix. For every pound of pumpkin also add a half cup of lemon juice. Mix the whole and let sit overnight.

2. In the morning, the sugar should have all liquefied. Turn on the heat under the pot and boil. Boil the mixture until the pumpkin pieces begin to clarify. Turn off the heat and put the pumpkin into canning jars, pour the sugar mixture over the top and seal.