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Jellied Prunes
1/3 lb. prunes 2 cups cold water Boiling water 1/2 cup cold water 1/2 box gelatine or 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated gelatine 1 cup sugar 1/4 cup lemon juice Pick over, wash, and soak prunes for several hours in two cups cold water, and cook in same water until soft; remove prunes; stone, and cut in quarters. To prune water add enough boiling water to make two cups. Soak gelatine in half-cup cold water, dissolve in hot liquid, add sugar, lemon juice, then strain, add prunes, mould, and chill. Stir twice while cooling to prevent prunes from settling. Serve with sugar and cream.
A clear lemon-prune jelly with the fruit suspended through it. Two things decide whether it works: the gelatine ratio and the timing of the stir.
- The hinge is the stirThe prunes are denser than the setting liquid and will slide to the bottom of the mould. Stir once when the jelly has thickened to the consistency of raw egg white, and again a few minutes later, then leave it alone.
- Gelatine, translatedPeriod boxes of gelatine were commonly reckoned at roughly an ounce, which would make half a box about 2 tablespoons, though sizes varied by brand and the recipe's own alternative of 2 1/2 tablespoons is a shade more. Modern envelopes hold 1/4 oz (about 2 1/4 teaspoons) each, so use three envelopes for a jelly firm enough to unmould, or two if you intend to serve it from a bowl.
- Never boil itSoak the gelatine in the cold half-cup until it swells, then stir it into the hot prune liquid off the heat. Prolonged boiling breaks gelatine down and weakens its setting power, so keep the liquid below a boil.
- Prunes have changedToday's prunes are sold pitted and partly rehydrated. Two hours in the cold water is usually enough, and 15 to 20 minutes of simmering will bring them to the point where they cut cleanly into quarters.
- Quantities1/3 lb is about 5 1/3 oz, or a generous cup of whole prunes. With the gelatine's soaking water, the lemon juice, the dissolved sugar and the fruit, the finished mould comes to something close to a quart, and serves six.
- The sugarA cup of sugar to two cups of liquid is very sweet by current taste, and prunes bring their own sweetness. Two-thirds of a cup, with the full 1/4 cup lemon juice kept for balance, gives a better-flavoured jelly and sets just the same.
- Moulding and chillingRinse the mould with cold water rather than oiling it. Allow at least four hours in the refrigerator, or overnight; to turn it out, dip the mould briefly in warm water and invert onto a wetted plate.
- Serving"Sugar and cream" means unwhipped heavy or light cream poured at the table. Lightly whipped cream, barely sweetened, suits the sharpness of the lemon better.