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Prune Gelatine
Allow one-half box of gelatine to each pound of prunes which should be soaked over night (after thorough washing), simmered fifteen minutes, and pitted. Have the gelatine soaking in cold water-one-half pint of water to each half box of gelatine-and when soft pour on it one pint of boiling water with juice of two lemons and one and onehalf cups of sugar. Let cool, stirring till it thickens slightly when place half of this in a wet mould. When firm lay on it the prunes and pour over them the rest of the jelly. The gelatine may be made into plain lemon or wine jelly. instead of being merely flavoured with lemon. Serve with whipped cream.
A layered moulded jelly of the kind that filled the dessert page of every turn-of-the-century household book. The measurements translate cleanly once you know what a "box" of gelatine held.
- Half a box of gelatineA box of granulated gelatine of this era is usually reckoned at about 1 oz, divided into four papers, so half a box is roughly 1/2 oz, or two modern 1/4-oz envelopes (about 14 g). Against the 3 cups of liquid called for here that is a stiffer set than modern proportions, which is what an unmoulded jelly holding fruit wants.
- Liquid measuresHalf a pint is 1 cup, one pint is 2 cups. The gelatine softens in the cold cup, then dissolves in the boiling two cups; the mixture should be stirred until no granules remain on the spoon.
- The hinge: chill until it thickensDo not pour clear liquid jelly over the prunes or they will float and settle into one clump at the top. Cool the jelly until it has the body of raw egg white, then layer, as directed.
- Modern prunes need less cookingToday's dried plums are partially rehydrated and sold soft. An overnight soak plus fifteen minutes of simmering will turn them to mush; a 20-30 minute soak in hot water is usually enough to plump and pit them.
- SugarOne and a half cups is heavy for three cups of liquid by current taste, especially with sweetened prunes. A cup, adjusted after the lemon juice goes in, gives a jelly that still sets firmly.
- Wet mouldRinsing the mould with cold water and leaving it wet is what releases the jelly later. With 3 cups of jelly plus a pound of prunes you need a mould of about 1 1/2 quarts, or a set of individual cups; the recipe serves six to eight.
- Setting timeAllow 1-2 hours in the refrigerator for the first layer to set firm enough to hold the fruit, and at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, for the finished mould.
- The wine jelly variantIf you follow the suggestion and make a wine jelly, replace part of the boiling water with sherry or Madeira after the gelatine has dissolved. Adding alcohol to boiling liquid drives off the flavour you paid for.
Moulded gelatine desserts belong to the moment when gelatine stopped being a luxury. Making a clear jelly from scratch meant hours of boiling calves' feet and clarifying the result with egg white, though packaged sheet and shred gelatines such as Nelson's and Cox's were commercially available well before mid-century; by the 1890s granulated gelatine sold by the box had put the same effect within reach of any cook with a mould and a cold larder. Prunes were the other half of the equation: dried plums, cheap, shelf-stable and shipped in quantity from California orchards that had been planted with French varieties in the 1870s and 80s. The layering technique, with fruit suspended in clear jelly, was itself a piece of display cooking inherited from the elaborate moulded creams and blancmanges of the Victorian table, simplified for a household without a pastry cook.