damages the pectin Failures can sometimes be rescued by the addition of a commercial liquid pectin preparation and/or cream of tartar or lemon juice, and a brief reboiling Too much acid can cause weeping of fluid from an overfirm gel Uncooked and Unsweetened “Preserves” Modern preserve making has been transformed by the availability of concentrated pectin, extracted and purified from citrus and apple wastes, which can be added to any crushed fruit, cooked or not, to guarantee a firm gel “Freezer jams” are made by loading up crushed fresh fruit with supplemental pectin and sugar, letting them sit for a day while the pectin molecules slowly form their network and form the gel, and then “preserving” them in the refrigerator or freezer (the uncooked fruit would otherwise soon be spoiled by sugar-tolerant molds and yeasts) Pectin is also used to make clear jelly candies and other confections Food chemists have developed several different versions of pectin for special commercial applications The most notable of these is a pectin that sets without the need for any added sugar to pull water molecules away from the long pectin chains; instead, the chains bond to each other strongly by means of cross-linking calcium, which is added after the fruit and pectin mixture has been cooked This pectin is what makes it possible to produce low-calorie “preserves” with artificial sweeteners Candied Fruits Candied fruits are small whole fruits or pieces that are impregnated with a saturated sugar syrup, then drained, dried, and stored at room temperature as separate pieces Fruit cooked in a sugar syrup remains relatively firm and maintains its shape thanks to the interaction of sugar molecules with the cell-wall hemicelluloses ...candies and other confections Food chemists have developed several different versions of pectin for special commercial applications The most notable of these is a pectin that sets without the need for... any added sugar to pull water molecules away from the long pectin chains; instead, the chains bond to each other strongly by means of cross-linking calcium, which is added after the fruit and pectin mixture has been cooked... separate pieces Fruit cooked in a sugar syrup remains relatively firm and maintains its shape thanks to the interaction of sugar molecules with the cell-wall hemicelluloses