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Fresh Fruit Jelly
1224. Dissolve one ounce of isinglass in half a pint of water, then add a pint and a half of fruit juice of any kind, and from half to three-quarters of a pound of sugar, according to the taste. Boil for a few seconds, and use when cold. There is no necessity for a jellybag in this case.
A plain moulded fruit jelly set with isinglass, the fish-derived gelatine of the Victorian kitchen. The proportions translate cleanly to modern gelatine, and the note about the jelly bag is the key to the method.
- Isinglass to gelatineOne ounce of isinglass is roughly the setting power of 1 oz (about 28 g, or four standard envelopes) of powdered gelatine, though old isinglass varied a good deal in strength. Bloom the gelatine in the half pint of cold water rather than trying to dissolve it hot.
- VolumesHalf a pint is 10 fl oz in British imperial measure, about 285 ml; a pint and a half of juice is about 850 ml. That is about 1.14 litres of liquid before the sugar, which adds a couple of hundred millilitres more when dissolved, so allow a mould of about 1.5 litres, or six to eight small glasses.
- SugarHalf to three-quarters of a pound is 225-340 g. Judge it against the juice: redcurrant or damson wants the upper end, sweet ripe strawberry or grape the lower.
- No jelly bagThe point of the last sentence is that this jelly is not clarified. Older recipes strain jelly through a flannel bag for brilliance; here the juice goes in as it is, so the set will be cloudy. Straining the juice through muslin first, without pressing, gets you most of the way to clear without the bag.
- Boil only brieflyA few seconds is deliberate. Prolonged boiling both weakens the set and cooks off the fresh flavour that is the whole object of a fresh fruit jelly.
- Acidic and fresh juicesVery acid juice slackens a gelatine set. Fresh pineapple, kiwi, papaya and fig contain enzymes that digest gelatine and will not set unless the juice is boiled first.
- Setting"Use when cold" means chilled and firm. Pour into a rinsed mould and give it four hours in the refrigerator, or overnight for a large one; to turn out, dip the mould briefly in hot water.