Recipe Manuscript

To Make Lemon Wine

Name: To Make Lemon Wine
Prep time: PTPT20M
Cook time: PTPT1H
Yield: 30
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 15 liters water; 2 kg white sugar (granulated or powdered; substitute for loaf sugar); 9 large lemons

1725

From the treasured pages of Receipt book of Dorothy Stone

Written by Dorothy Stone

Culinary Enlightenment (1700 - 1800)European Intermediate Drink

Original Recipe • 1725

Original Manuscript(circa Culinary Enlightenment, 1700 - 1800)

As inscribed by the original author's hand, transcribed with care by Lost Kitchen Scrolls

To Make Lemon Wine

"Take 4 gallons of water & 4 pound and a half of loaf Sugar or powder and boyle them well togather one hower and scum it as it rises, then put it in a clean Vessell till it is cold, then have nine good Lemons pilld and the pulp all bruized very well, then put them in the Liquor with all the pill, and put it inapor or Caske and let it stand 3 days close cover'd, then draw it of, and if it comes not very clear, run it thorough a fine Cloth and clean the Caske and put it in againe, and let it stand other 3 days then bottle it, its ready to drink in a week's time."

Note on the Original Text

This recipe is recorded in the loose, flowing prose typical of handwritten domestic manuscripts from the period. Spelling was not standardized—'boyle' for boil, 'scum' for skim, 'pilld' for peeled, 'lucquor' for liquor—reflecting the conventions or regional dialects of the era. Detailed measurements for time and temperature are absent, relying instead on observation and experience. The directions presume familiarity with kitchen equipment and processes, and ingredients like 'loaf sugar' would now be replaced by modern equivalents.

Modern Kitchen Interpretation

Recipe's Origin

Receipt book of Dorothy Stone - Click to view recipe in book

Title

Receipt book of Dorothy Stone (1725)

You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome

Writer

Dorothy Stone

Era

1725

Publisher

Unknown

Background

Step into the delicious world of early 18th-century kitchens with Dorothy Stone, where classic recipes and culinary curiosities await. Expect a charming medley of hearty fare, sweet treats, and the tasteful secrets of a bygone era.

Kindly made available by

Folger Shakespeare Library

Historical Background of the Recipe

Learn about old traditions

This lemon wine recipe is drawn from the early 18th century, around 1725, and is attributed to Dorothy Stone, a figure representative of the well-educated women who kept family recipe books. At this time, homemade wines—essentially light fermented fruit drinks—were extremely popular in Britain. Lemons were considered exotic yet increasingly available due to expanding trade, and such recipes demonstrate both their desirability and the growing creativity of home cooks of the period. The recipe reflects the domestic ingenuity and curiosity of the early modern English household, where food preservation and fermentation were foundational kitchen skills.

Culinary Tools when the Recipe was Crafted

Tools and techniques from kitchens of old

Back in the early 1700s, this recipe would have required a large copper or iron kettle for boiling water and sugar. The lemon pulp was likely bruised in a wooden or ceramic mortar and pestle. Clean earthenware or wooden vessels would have served for cooling and fermenting, sealed with cloth or fitted lids. A fine muslin or linen cloth served as a strainer, and the wine was stored in glass bottles sealed with cork once finished.

Modern Kitchen Adaptation

Ingredients and techniques for today's cooks

ounces, cups, Fahrenheit

Prep Time

20 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Servings

Ingredients

4 gallons water
4.4 lbs white sugar (granulated or powdered; substitute for loaf sugar)
9 large lemons

Instructions

Begin by boiling 4 gallons of water with 4.4 pounds of white granulated sugar (loaf sugar or powdered sugar in the original) for about one hour, skimming any froth that forms on top—this would have clarified the liquid.
Allow the mixture to cool down completely in a clean vessel.
Next, take 9 large lemons, peel them, and thoroughly bruise or mash the pulp.
Add both the peels and crushed pulp into the cooled sugar water.
Pour the entire mixture into a fermentation vessel or a large glass jar/cask, cover it, and allow it to stand undisturbed for three days at room temperature.
After three days, carefully decant the liquid, filtering it through a fine cloth if it’s not clear.
Clean the vessel, return the liquid, and let it stand a further three days.
After this, bottle the lemon wine.
It will be drinkable within a week, but further aging will improve flavor.

Estimated Calories

210 per serving

Cooking Estimates

It takes about an hour to boil the sugar and water, and around 20 minutes to prepare the lemons. The recipe makes about 15 liters of lemon wine, which you can easily divide into about 30 servings (500 ml each). Each serving contains roughly 210 calories, mainly from the sugar.