Jellyfish Cream

This is an assembly-and-plating direction rather than a full recipe: it assumes you already have a Bavarian cream and a lemon jelly from elsewhere in the book. The finished effect depends entirely on both setting firm enough to unmould cleanly.

• The hinge: two separate setsThe pink cream must be fully firm in the ramekin before the jelly dome goes on, or the weight of the jelly will sink into it. Chill the cream at least 4 hours and the jelly in its small cups at least 3, then unmould the jelly last, directly onto the set surface.
• Bavarian cream, definedA cooked egg-and-milk custard set with gelatin and lightened with whipped cream. Period books call for gelatin by weight or by the box, sheet or granulated depending on the source; with modern powdered gelatin, roughly 2 to 3 teaspoons per 2 cups of liquid should give a set firm enough to unmould.
• Making it pinkThe colour would have come from raspberry or strawberry puree, or from cochineal, a red colouring made from insects and still sold as carmine. Fruit puree gives both colour and flavour and is the better choice.
• RamekinsBy this period a ramekin was generally a small straight-sided china or earthenware cup of a few ounces' capacity. Anything of that size with a smooth interior will do; avoid fluted moulds, since the jelly needs a flat top to sit on.
• Unmoulding the jellyDip each small cup in warm water for 5 to 10 seconds, no more, then loosen the edge with a fingertip and invert. Longer and the surface melts to a slick that will slide off the cream.
• Moss parsleyThis is tightly curled parsley, the frizzy variety sold as curly-leaf. It is a garnish rather than something to eat.
• Yield and servingWritten for individual servings, one ramekin per person; a quart of Bavarian cream base will fill roughly six to eight small cups. Serve cold, as both cream and jelly will soften and lose their shape if left standing in a warm room.