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Coffee Cream
f Soak one ounce of gelatine in a little cold water half an hour; then place over boiling water and add one gill of strong Coffaroma coffee and one gill of sugar. When the gelatine is dissolved take from the fire; stir in three gills of cream and put into moulds.
A cold-set coffee jelly enriched with cream, of the type Victorian and Edwardian books filed under "fancy dishes." The measurements are in gills and the gelatine is heavy by modern standards.
- GillsA gill is half a cup, 4 fl oz. So the recipe is 1/2 cup strong coffee, 1/2 cup sugar (by volume, about 3 1/2 oz or 100 g), and 1 1/2 cups cream.
- An ounce of gelatine is a lotOne ounce is four standard 1/4-oz envelopes of powdered gelatine, setting only 2 1/2 cups of liquid. That gives a firm, rubbery mould that will stand up on a plate unaided, which was the point. For a spoonable modern cream, one envelope to a pint is nearer current practice.
- CoffaromaCapitalised in the text, so apparently a proprietary coffee preparation rather than a generic ingredient. Substitute 1/2 cup of very strong brewed coffee (or espresso made up to that volume, to keep the liquid the same); the flavour has to carry against 1 1/2 cups of cream.
- Over boiling waterThis means a double boiler or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, not direct heat. Prolonged boiling or direct heat can scorch the mixture and weaken the gelatine's setting power.
- The hinge: cool before the cream goes inTake the coffee mixture off the heat and let it cool to about body temperature before stirring in the cream. Poured hot into cold cream, the gelatine seizes into threads and the finished mould is stringy rather than smooth.
- Moulding and unmouldingRinse the moulds with cold water first and do not oil them. Chill at least four hours, then dip the mould in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto a wet plate so the cream can be slid into position.
- YieldAbout a pint and a quarter of mixture, enough for four to six small moulds or one 1-pint form. Serve cold, with a plain wafer or a spoonful of sweetened cream.
Gelatine desserts of this kind were the show pieces of the turn-of-the-century table, and their spread owes much to the arrival of reliable packaged gelatine, generally traced to the 1890s, which replaced the long business of boiling down calves' feet or buying sheets of isinglass. Once a cook could measure setting power out of an envelope, moulded creams moved from the professional confectioner's repertoire into the ordinary household book, and they are often found in sections labelled "Fancy Dishes." The brand name "Coffaroma" in the text is a reminder that many American cookbooks of this era carried proprietary products in their recipes, whether by arrangement with the manufacturer or simply because a compiler copied a leaflet that came with the tin.