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Noyeau Jelly
Dissolve one ounce of best Russian isinglass in half a pint of water. Add one pound of loaf sugar boiled to a syrup in half a pint of water, the strained juice of a lemon, and a glass of noyeau. Strain the jelly until it is clear, pour it into a damp mould, and put it into a cool place to set. Turn it out on a glass dish just before it is wanted. Time to clarify the isinglass, half an hour. Probable cost, exclusive of the noyeau, 1s. 8d. Sufficient for one pint and a half of jelly.
A clear moulded jelly of the late Victorian dessert table, built on isinglass rather than leaf gelatine. The two things that decide success are the strength of the setting agent and the clarity of the strained liquid.
- Isinglass to gelatineIsinglass is dried fish swim bladder, chiefly sturgeon, and its setting power varied by grade, which is why the recipe specifies "best Russian". For 1.5 pints (about 850 ml) of liquid that must stand unsupported on a dish, reckon on roughly 20-25 g of powdered gelatine, or the same weight in leaf gelatine -- sheet weights differ by brand, so weigh rather than count. Test a spoonful on a cold saucer before committing the mould.
- DissolvingThe half hour given is for isinglass, which needs long, gentle heat to clarify. Modern gelatine wants only to be bloomed in cold water and then warmed to dissolve; boiling it weakens the set.
- Loaf sugarLoaf sugar was refined cane sugar broken from a cone, prized because it dissolved clean and clear. Ordinary granulated sugar is the direct equivalent. "Boiled to a syrup" means dissolved and brought briefly to the boil, not taken to any candy stage; colour here is the enemy.
- A glass of noyeauThe recipe says only "a glass", conventionally read in this period as a wineglass, about 2 fl oz (roughly 57 ml). Noyau is a sweet almond-scented liqueur; creme de noyaux or a good almond liqueur stands in. Add it once the syrup has cooled somewhat, or the aroma boils off.
- Do not improvise the noyeauHistoric household noyeau was made by steeping peach or apricot kernels or bitter almonds in spirit, which releases cyanogenic compounds. Use a commercially produced liqueur, where the flavouring is controlled, and do not substitute a home kernel infusion.
- Straining clearStrain through a jelly bag or several layers of scalded muslin, and pour the first cloudy run back through rather than pressing it. Pressure forces sediment through and the jelly will set murky.
- The mould"Damp" means rinsed in cold water and not dried; the film of water is what lets the jelly slip. Do not oil it. To turn out, dip the mould to its rim in hot water for a few seconds, no longer.
- SettingA cool place meant a larder overnight. In a refrigerator allow at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight, as the alcohol slows the set a little.
- YieldA pint and a half fills a 1 litre mould and serves six as a light dessert, often with cream or a compote of fruit alongside.
Noyau takes its name from the French for a fruit stone: the liqueur was flavoured by steeping the kernels of peaches, apricots or cherries, whose almond scent made it a favourite flavouring for creams, ices and jellies through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Noyau de Poissy is the best-known surviving commercial version. The isinglass matters as much as the flavouring here; before industrial gelatine was cheap and reliable, the finest transparent jellies depended on sturgeon-bladder isinglass imported from Russia. The recipe gives the probable cost as 1s. 8d. exclusive of the liqueur, a reminder that a clear turned-out jelly was a display piece as much as a sweet.