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Macedoine of Fruit in Jelly
1/8 ounce gelatin, dissolved in 2/3 cup boiling water 2 tablespoons lemon juice (1 large lemon) 2/3 cup sugar 1 cup cold water 1/6 teaspoon salt 1/6 cup diced banana 1/6 cup diced apple 1/6 cup diced peaches 1/6 cup stoned cherries (canned) 2 tablespoons cherry juice 1/6 cup diced orange (That is, one cup of a mixture of these fruits cut into dice) 1/6 cup walnut meats (not chopped) Pineapple flavor Wintergreen flavor Red coloring A few grains salt Prepare the gelatin as usual by soaking in hot water and draining, then cook it in the two-thirds cup of boiling water till dissolved. Then strain it into the remaining ingredients, which have been mixed together. Stir it enough to be sure to get the gelatin distributed throughout the mixture. Add enough pineapple and wintergreen to give a delicate flavor, and enough red coloring to give it a pretty pink color. Pour into molds wet with cold water. When cold, turn from the molds and serve with lemon custard.
A moulded fruit jelly from the era when gelatin desserts were a mark of a well-run kitchen. The proportions are given in the exacting fractions of the domestic-science schools, and the gelatin quantity is the one figure to check before you begin.
- The gelatin amount is suspectOne-eighth ounce (about 3.5 g) will not reliably set roughly 2 1/3 cups of liquid plus a cup of fruit; a standard envelope is 1/4 ounce and sets about 2 cups. Reckon on a full envelope, a little generous for a mould that has to stand up, and treat the printed figure as unreliable rather than a formula to follow.
- Soak in cold water, not hotGranulated and leaf gelatin are bloomed in cold water so the grains swell without dissolving prematurely, then melted in the boiling water. Soaking in hot water and draining pours away part of the setting power.
- Odd fractionsA 1/6 cup is 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons; 1/6 teaspoon falls between 1/8 and 1/4, a generous 1/8. These fractions can be rounded without harm.
- Wintergreen flavoringUse a food-grade wintergreen extract, which is heavily diluted, and count the drops. Undiluted oil of wintergreen is not a kitchen ingredient and should never be substituted.
- Fresh pineapple is outThe pineapple here is a flavoring only, which is fortunate: fresh or frozen pineapple contains bromelain, which digests gelatin and prevents setting. The same applies to fresh kiwi, papaya and mango.
- Banana and apple will brownDice them last and toss in a little of the lemon juice before they go into the jelly, or the cut faces will darken through the clear pink set.
- UnmouldingChill at least four hours, preferably overnight. Rinsing the mould in cold water helps, but a few seconds in warm water against the outside and a plate on top is more reliable than force.
- YieldAbout 3 1/2 cups of mixture, which fills one 1-quart mould or six small ones. The lemon custard called for at the end is a thin stirred custard, served cold as a sauce.