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Raspberry Cream
2 tablespoons gelatine 1 cup cold water 1 tablespoon lemon juice 3 tablespoons preserved raspberries 1 1/2 cups cream, whipped Soften gelatine in the cold water and dissolve over boiling water, add lemon juice, raspberries rubbed through a sieve, and whipped cream. Pour into jelly mold dipped in cold water, and chill until firm. Preserved strawberries or currant jelly may be substituted for the raspberries. This may be used as a filling for pastry cases or meringue shells. Garnish with whipped cream if desired. Serves 6.
A molded whipped-cream jelly of the icebox era, simple in structure but wholly dependent on temperature control at one step. Read the point about folding before you start.
- The hinge: gelatine temperatureThe dissolved gelatine must be cooled to barely warm, thick and syrupy, before the whipped cream goes in. Hot gelatine melts the cream into a puddle; fully set gelatine breaks into rubbery threads that will not blend.
- Gelatine quantityTwo tablespoons of granulated gelatine is roughly two and a half standard envelopes, about 18 g. That is a firm, sliceable set suited to unmolding — soften it in the cold water for five minutes until spongy, then dissolve it in a bowl over simmering water rather than directly on the burner.
- SweeteningNo sugar is listed; all of it comes from the three tablespoons of preserved fruit, which in a mixture this size reads as very faint. Taste the sieved fruit and gelatine base before folding and add sugar or more preserves to suit, since nothing can be adjusted after setting.
- Preserved raspberriesThis means whole fruit put up in heavy syrup, closer to a loose jam than to modern seedless jelly. Any good raspberry preserve works; sieving is worth doing, as raspberry seeds are conspicuous in a smooth cream.
- Whipped creamWhip the cream to soft peaks only. Cream taken to stiff peaks folds in as lumps and gives a grainy set.
- The moldAllow for about a quart and a half; the whipped cream roughly doubles in volume, so the finished mixture comes to more than a quart. The recipe calls for rinsing the mold in cold water rather than oiling it; this helps release. To unmold, dip the base in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto a chilled plate.
- ChillingNo time is given. Allow three to four hours in the refrigerator, or overnight, before attempting to turn it out.
- As a fillingIf using it in pastry or meringue shells, fill them shortly before serving. The cream weeps a little as it stands and will soften a baked shell within an hour or two.