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Arrowroot Jelly
Put into a saucepan half a pint of water, a glassful of sherry or a spoonful of brandy, grated nutmeg, and fine sugar; boil once up, then mix it by degrees into a dessertspoonful of arrowroot previously rubbed smooth with 2 spoonfuls of cold water; then return the whole into the saucepan, stir, and boil it three minutes.
A thin, quickly set starch gruel from the sickroom chapter — closer to a warm drink thickened to a spoonable consistency than to a firm gelatine jelly. It makes a single serving.
- The slurry step is the whole recipeArrowroot must be rubbed smooth with cold water first, then the hot liquid added gradually to it, exactly as written. Tipping the dry powder into hot liquid gives lumps that never disperse.
- Do not overcook itArrowroot thickens at a lower temperature than flour or cornstarch and thins again if held at a hard boil, so the recipe's three minutes is generous; bring it just to bubbling and take it off. It needs no long cooking to lose a raw taste.
- MeasuresHalf a pint is 8 fl oz by US measure, 10 fl oz by imperial. A dessertspoonful is about two teaspoons; a modern tablespoon of arrowroot would give a much stiffer result. "A glassful" of sherry in this period generally means a wine glass, conventionally reckoned at about 2 fl oz.
- "Fine sugar"Caster or superfine sugar. Granulated works here since the liquid is boiled. Quantity is left to taste — a teaspoon or two suits the volume.
- AlcoholThe sherry or brandy was considered restorative. It can simply be left out; use a little more water and a strip of lemon peel if you want flavour.
- Texture and servingIt sets soft as it cools and will thicken further in the cup, so serve it warm or barely tepid. Arrowroot jelly does not reheat well — it turns slack and slightly slimy — so make it fresh each time.
- Buying arrowrootSold today as arrowroot powder or arrowroot starch in the baking aisle. It is not interchangeable spoon for spoon with cornstarch, which needs a fuller boil and clouds the mixture.