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Fruit Chartreuse
Make fruit or wine jelly mixture. Place a mould in pan of ice-water, pour in mixture one-half inch deep; when firm, decorate with candied cherries and angelica; add by spoonfuls more mixture to cover fruit; when this is firm, place a smaller mould in centre on jelly, and fill with ice-water. Pour gradually remaining jelly mixture between moulds; when firm, invert to empty smaller mould of ice-water; then pour in some tepid water; let stand a few seconds, when small mould may easily be removed. Fill space thus made with fresh sweetened fruit, using shredded pineapple, sliced bananas, and strawberries.
A layered moulded jelly built in stages, with a hollow centre filled at the last minute. Nothing here is difficult, but the whole thing depends on patience: each layer must be fully set before the next goes on, or the decoration floats and the layers bleed.
- The jelly mixtureFannie Farmer's wine and fruit jellies run to roughly a couple of tablespoons of granulated gelatine to about a quart of liquid, a set firm enough to unmould and slice. A softer modern set will slump once the mould is inverted; err on the firm side for this dish.
- Fresh pineapple will ruin itRaw pineapple contains bromelain, which digests gelatine and leaves a weeping, soupy patch wherever it touches. Use canned pineapple, or simmer fresh pineapple for a few minutes first. The same applies to raw kiwi, papaya and fresh figs.
- AngelicaCandied angelica stems, bright green and sold for cake decorating, were a standard garnish. Specialist confectioners still carry it; candied citron peel or thin strips of candied lime peel do the same job visually.
- The ice-water bathThe pan of ice-water is the setting method in a period kitchen. A refrigerator does it more evenly but more slowly: allow a good half-hour or more for each thin layer and several hours for the deep outer wall before you attempt the inner mould, judging by feel rather than by the clock.
- Weighting the inner mouldThe smaller mould is filled with ice-water so that it does not float when jelly is poured around it, and so that the jelly sets against a cold surface. Keep it centred and check that the jelly line outside never rises above the water line inside.
- Tepid means tepidWhen the inner mould is emptied, a few seconds of lukewarm water loosens its grip. Hot water will melt a channel into the jelly wall and leave the cavity ragged.
- BananasSlice them at the last possible moment and toss with a little lemon juice; sitting in the cavity they brown within minutes and the whole centre goes grey.
- Yield and servingThe recipe specifies neither mould size nor yield; a mould of a quart and a half or so would serve eight to ten. Unmould onto a chilled platter, fill the centre, and serve promptly -- the fruit juices thin the jelly where they touch it.
The name comes from the French chartreuse, originally a moulded dish of vegetables and forcemeat concealing game, attributed by tradition to the Carthusian monks and their meatless table. By the nineteenth century the word had loosened to mean almost any layered, moulded construction turned out whole, and the sweet jelly versions became a set piece of the elaborate cold dessert. Its appearance in the Boston Cooking-School book reflects what commercial granulated gelatine had done to American home cooking: what once meant hours of boiling calves' feet and clarifying stock became a packet, and moulded jellies moved from the professional confectioner's bench into the ordinary household. The dish is built to be looked at -- cherries and angelica suspended in a clear wall, fresh fruit heaped in the hollow -- and belongs to a period when a dessert was expected to arrive at the table as an object, not a portion.