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Nectarine Jelly
Take a quart of clear wine jelly (see MADEIRA WINE JELLY), and pour a little of it, to the depth of half an inch, in a mould that has been well wetted and drained. Let it set. Pare four nectarines, and cut them in quarters, removing the stones. Lay two or three pieces in the mould, pour in a little jelly to form a setting for the fruit, and let it set. When firm, add more jelly, to the depth of an inch, and let that set also. Then lay in another piece or two of the nectarines, add a little more jelly, and continue in this way until all the fruit is used, always letting each layer of jelly set before more is added. Set aside in a cool place (on ice in warm weather) until firm. Probable cost, 2s. 6d.
A layered set jelly built in stages, so the fruit sits suspended rather than floating at the top. Nothing here is difficult, but the timing between layers is what decides whether it turns out as one piece or several.
- The hinge: set, but only justEach layer must be firm enough to hold the next without being cold and rubbery, or the finished jelly will split along the seams when turned out. Add the next layer when the surface is set but still slightly tacky to a fingertip, roughly 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- QuantitiesA quart in a British book of this period is an imperial quart, 40 fl oz (about 1.14 litres) of finished wine jelly. The original gives no yield, mould size or number of servings.
- The wine jelly baseA Madeira wine jelly of this kind would have been sweetened wine and water set with gelatine or isinglass, and Victorian wine jellies were commonly clarified with egg white, though the cross-referenced recipe is not reproduced here. Modern powdered or leaf gelatine, at the packet rate for a firm jelly that will be turned out, needs no clarifying if you start with a clear wine.
- Keep the jelly liquid, not hotWarm jelly poured over set jelly melts it. Let the reserve cool until it is only just still liquid and cool to the touch, and pour it against the side of the mould or over the back of a spoon.
- The nectarinesUse firm ripe fruit; overripe quarters collapse and cloud the jelly. Paring is easier after a 20-second blanch and an ice bath. Rub the cut faces with lemon juice, as they brown quickly while you wait for layers to set.
- The mouldWetting and draining, as directed, is still the best release for gelatine; oil leaves a dull film. To unmould, dip the outside in hot water for a few seconds, then invert onto a wetted plate so the jelly can be nudged into place.
- "On ice in warm weather"This points to ice-cooled storage rather than mechanical refrigeration. A refrigerator does the same job; allow at least 4 hours after the final layer, and overnight is better for a jelly that will be turned out whole.
- Probable cost2s. 6d. is the book's own estimate for the ingredients, covering both the wine and the fruit. It has no useful modern equivalent.
Moulded wine jellies with fruit suspended in them were a set piece of the nineteenth-century dinner table, and their appeal was almost entirely visual: the point of the tedious layer-by-layer method is that the fruit appears to hang in mid-air, which cannot be achieved by simply stirring it into the whole quart. The technique became practical for ordinary households only once commercial refined gelatine, sold in sheets and later as powder, replaced the long boiling of calves' feet that earlier cooks endured to get a clear set. Nectarines, a smooth-skinned variety of peach rather than a separate species, were a walled-garden and glasshouse fruit in Britain, which is part of why Cassell's treats four of them as worth this much ceremony.