Home › Sandwiches › Fruit Jelly for Sweet Sandwiches
Fruit Jelly for Sweet Sandwiches
INGREDIENTS.
I box of gelatine (2 ounces).
1 cup of cold water.
1 cup of boiling water.
Method. - 1 cup of sugar.
I 1½ cups of orange juice. ¼ a cup of lemon juice.
Soak the gelatine in the cold water and dissolve in the boiling water; add the sugar and strain; when cold add the orange and lemon juice. Mould in sheets three-eighths of an inch thick.
A firm cut-jelly rather than a spoonable dessert: it is set in a thin sheet so squares can be lifted onto buttered bread. The gelatine ratio is high on purpose, and it needs to stay that way.
- The box of gelatineA 2-ounce box of granulated gelatine equals eight modern ¼-ounce envelopes, roughly 6 level tablespoons. That is a very stiff set, which is what allows the jelly to be sliced and handled without collapsing between slices of bread.
- Liquid proportionsTwo cups of water plus about 1¾ cups of citrus juice against 2 ounces of gelatine. The lemon quantity is garbled in the text; it most likely reads a quarter of a cup against the 1½ cups of orange juice.
- Dissolve fully before the juice goes inBloom the gelatine in the cold water, then stir into the boiling water until no grains remain when you lift the spoon. Undissolved gelatine will leave the finished sheet gritty and cloudy.
- Let it cool firstThe instruction to add the citrus only when cold is not fussiness. Fresh orange and lemon juice lose their aroma quickly at heat, and prolonged heat with acid weakens gelatine's setting power.
- Strain, and strain againStrain the sweetened gelatine base through a fine sieve, and pass the juices through muslin as well. Pulp and membrane make the finished sheet grainy and spoil the clear colour that is the point of the dish.
- Moulding in sheetsThree-eighths of an inch is about 1 cm. Use a shallow rectangular dish, lightly oiled or lined with plastic, wide enough that this volume lies only that deep -- a quarter sheet pan will give a somewhat thicker sheet. Chill until firm, then cut into squares.
- YieldAbout a quart of liquid; how many squares it gives depends on the size they are cut, from a dozen bread-sized pieces to several dozen small ones.
- AssemblySpread the bread with softened butter first. The butter seals the crumb so the jelly does not bleed into it before the sandwiches are served.
Sweet sandwiches were a fixture of the late-Victorian and Edwardian tea table. Setting a fruit jelly in a thin sheet so it could be cut and laid between slices of buttered bread solved a practical problem: jam soaks in and spreads, while a firm gelatine square stays put and can be assembled in advance. The heavy hand with gelatine reflects the product of the day -- packaged granulated gelatine is generally said to have become a common item in American groceries in the closing decades of the nineteenth century, and recipes still sold it by the box rather than the envelope. Orange and lemon juice together were a common flavouring for a clear jelly.