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Gelatine Jelly
Soak one box of Cox's gelatine, three hours, in a pint of cold water. Then add one pint of cooking wine, the rind and juice of one lemon, two pounds white sugar, a little mace. Stir these ingredients till the sugar dissolves, then add two quarts of boiling water, gently stirring till mixed. Strain at once, through a flannel bag twice. This recipe makes the best jelly I ever saw.--Mrs. M. M. D.
Gelatine Jelly.
To one package of gelatine add one pint cold water, the rind of one lemon and juice of three. Let it stand an hour. Then add three pints of boiling water, one pint wine, two and a quarter pounds loaf sugar, a wineglass of brandy or the best rum. Strain through a napkin and let it stand to jelly.--Mrs. Col. S. Gelatine Jelly (without straining).
Add a pint of cold water to one box Cox's gelatine. Let it stand fifteen minutes, then add three pints boiling water, one pint wine, the strained juice and peelings (cut thin) of three lemons, half a teacup of best vinegar, one and a half pounds loaf sugar, one wine-glass French brandy, mace or any other spice you like, and a little essence of lemon. Let it stand an hour, then take out the lemon peel and mace. Let it stand in a cool place to congeal.--Mrs. Dr. J.
Three versions of the same Victorian party dish — a clear wine jelly turned out of a mould. The variables that matter are the size of the gelatine box, the strength of the wine, and how hard you are willing to work at clarifying.
- A box of Cox's gelatinePeriod American sources generally treat a box or package of Cox's gelatine as about one ounce, though package sizes varied. One ounce is roughly four modern quarter-ounce envelopes (about 3 tablespoons of granules). Sheet gelatine at the same weight works if you prefer it.
- The set is marginalOne ounce of gelatine to five or six pints of liquid (the first version comes to six pints) is soft by modern standards, where a quarter-ounce envelope sets about two cups. Alcohol and acid both weaken the gel further, so expect a soft, spoonable jelly rather than one that stands boldly unmoulded; a firmer turned-out jelly needs appreciably more gelatine for this quantity.
- "Cooking wine"In this period the term generally meant an inexpensive wine — sherry, madeira or a domestic sweet wine — rather than the salted product sold under that name today. Use a drinkable medium sherry or madeira; salted cooking wine will ruin it.
- Loaf sugarSugar broken from a cone or loaf, essentially pure white sugar. Granulated is a direct substitute by weight — two pounds is about 4½ cups, and the jelly is sweet by design because the wine and lemon are sharp.
- Never boil itThe boiling water is stirred in to dissolve, not to cook. Gelatine held at a boil loses setting power, so add the water and stir gently until clear rather than returning the pan to the heat.
- Straining through flannelA jelly bag or a double layer of damp muslin in a sieve does the same job. Let it drip without squeezing — pressing the bag pushes cloudy sediment through and defeats the second straining.
- A wineglassReckon a wineglass at about 2 fluid ounces (¼ cup) in period recipes. Mace means a blade of whole mace, removed before setting, and "essence of lemon" is lemon extract, of which a few drops suffice.
- Yield and chillingThe first version comes to about three quarts of liquid, the other two about two and a half, enough for roughly twelve to sixteen servings. Chill at least six hours, or overnight; the third version's half teacup of vinegar is there for tartness, not preservation, and reads sharp to modern palates — start with less.
Wine jelly was the direct descendant of calf's-foot jelly, which required boiling feet for hours, clarifying with egg white and straining through flannel before any flavouring went in. Commercially refined gelatine — Cox's, made by J. & G. Cox of Edinburgh, was among the best known brands sold in America — collapsed a two-day undertaking into an afternoon, and by the 1870s a clear moulded jelly was within reach of any household with an icehouse or a cool cellar. Housekeeping in Old Virginia (1877), compiled by Marion Cabell Tyree from contributions by Virginia housewives, prints three versions in a row under initials — though what that arrangement says about the dish's popularity, or about the compiler's reasons for keeping all three, can only be guessed at from the page. The third, subtitled "without straining," is the practical woman's answer to the flannel bag.