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Jelly, Open, with Whipped Cream
Prepare a pint and a half of perfectly transparent jelly, either calf's foot, isinglass, or gelatine; colour it, if liked, with two or three drops of cochineal, and put it into a damp mould made with an opening in the centre on purpose for dishes of this description. When the jelly is firmly set, have ready three-quarters of a pint of whipped cream nicely flavoured and sweetened. Pile this in the opening as high as possible, and it is ready to serve.
A Victorian ring-mould jelly with a crown of whipped cream in the middle. The original assumes you already know how to set a jelly, so the quantities that matter are left unstated.
- The measurements are imperialA pint and a half in a British book of this date is 30 fl oz, or about 3 1/2 US cups. The three-quarters of a pint of whipped cream is 15 fl oz; the recipe does not say whether that is measured before or after whipping. If you read it as the finished whipped volume, it comes from roughly 200 ml of cream.
- No setting agent quantity is givenCassell's expects you to turn to its own jelly recipes. In modern terms, 30 fl oz of liquid needs about 20-25 g of powdered gelatine for a jelly firm enough to unmould and hold a vertical wall. Err on the firm side: a border mould has thin sections that collapse if the set is soft.
- Isinglass and calf's footIsinglass is dried fish swim bladder, sturgeon for the best grades, still sold for fining beer but no longer a kitchen staple. Calf's foot jelly means a stock simmered from split calves' feet, then clarified with egg white. Plain leaf or powdered gelatine gives the same result with none of the work.
- CochinealTwo or three drops of Victorian cochineal tincture were expected to give a clear pink. Modern cochineal/carmine extract can be considerably stronger, so add it a drop at a time from the end of a skewer, and note that it is an insect-derived colour, so not vegetarian.
- "Perfectly transparent"The whole point of the dish is clarity. Dissolve the gelatine in warm, not boiling, liquid, stir gently to avoid whipping in air, and skim any foam before pouring. Cloudy jelly reads as a mistake here in a way it would not in a set cream.
- The mould"A mould with an opening in the centre" is a ring or border mould — a modern savarin tin or angel-food ring pan does the job. Damp, not greased: rinse it with cold water and pour the jelly straight in, which is what lets it slip out cleanly.
- Setting and unmouldingAllow at least 6 hours in the refrigerator, or overnight. To turn out, dip the mould to its rim in hot water for five seconds only, then invert onto a wetted plate so the ring can be slid into position.
- Fill at the last minuteWhipped cream piled into a cold jelly begins to weep within the hour, and any liquid runs into the ring and dulls the surface. Whip to soft-firm peaks with a little sugar and vanilla, and pile it in as the dish goes to the table.
- YieldServes six to eight as a light dessert.
Moulded jellies were the showpieces of the Victorian sweet course, and the shape called for here — a ring with a hollow centre — was sold specifically so that the cavity could be filled at table with whipped cream, macedoine of fruit or a custard. Cassell's offers three setting agents as interchangeable: commercially refined gelatine, isinglass, an expensive import made from sturgeon swim bladders, and the day-long labour of boiling and clarifying calves' feet. Cochineal, made from dried scale insects and generally traced to Spanish trade with Mexico, was a standard household pink. The dish's economy is characteristic of the book: it is mostly water and air, costs very little, and looks like a great deal.