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Apricot and Wine Jelly
1/2 box gelatine or 2 tablespoons granulated gelatine 1/2 cup cold water 1 cup boiling water 1 cup apricot juice 1 cup wine 1 cup sugar 1 tablespoon lemon juice Garnish individual moulds with halves of canned apricots, fill with mixture made same as for other jellies, and chill. Arrange on serving dish and garnish with whipped cream forced through a pastry bag and tube. Snow Pudding I 1/4 box gelatine or 1 tablespoon granulated gelatine 1/4 cup cold water 1 cup boiling water 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice Whites 3 eggs Soak gelatine in cold water, dissolve in boiling water, add sugar and lemon juice, strain, and set aside in cool place; occasionally stir mixture, and when quite thick, beat with wire spoon or whisk until frothy; add whites of eggs beaten stiff, and continue beating until stiff enough to hold its shape. Mould, or pile by spoonfuls on glass dish; serve cold with Boiled Custard. A very attractive dish may be prepared by coloring half the mixture with fruit red.
The apricot jelly assumes you have already read the other jelly recipes in the chapter, so the working method is left out. It runs as follows: soak the gelatine in the cold water, dissolve it in the boiling water, add sugar, apricot juice, wine and lemon juice, strain, then pour over the fruit in the moulds and chill.
- Gelatine measuresA box of gelatine of this period held one ounce, so half a box is two tablespoons, equal to two standard quarter-ounce envelopes (about 14 g). That is enough to set the roughly four cups of finished mixture firmly enough to turn out of a mould; use one and a half envelopes if you want it softer on the spoon.
- Layer the mouldsDo not drop the apricot halves into liquid jelly or they will float and slide. Set a shallow layer of jelly in each mould first, chill until tacky, arrange the fruit cut side down, then fill and chill again.
- Apricot juiceThis means the syrup from the can. Canned apricots in heavy syrup may be sweeter than what this recipe assumed, so taste before adding the full cup of sugar and cut it back if the syrup is already cloying.
- The wineSherry and Madeira appear often in moulded wine jellies of this period, and a sweet white would serve. Add it off the heat with the fruit juice rather than to the boiling water, to keep more of the aroma. Alcohol at this proportion should not much affect the set.
- Strain itThe instruction to strain is not fussiness. Undissolved gelatine grains and cloudy canning syrup both show badly in a clear jelly, and a fine sieve or a double layer of cheesecloth is the difference between amber and murk.
- Chilling and unmouldingAllow at least four hours, and overnight for large moulds. Dip the mould to its rim in warm, not hot, water for a count of five, loosen the edge with a fingertip and invert onto a chilled plate.
- YieldAbout four cups of mixture, which fills six to eight individual moulds. Whip the cream unsweetened; the jelly carries enough sugar for both.
- Raw whites in the snow puddingThe second recipe folds stiffly beaten raw egg whites into gelatine and serves the result cold, with no cooking at any stage. If you make it, use pasteurised whites, and do not serve it to anyone pregnant, elderly, very young or immune-compromised.