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Red Apples in Jelly (Pare and core some well-shaped)
1091. Pare and core some well-shaped apples-pippins or golden rennets, if you have them, but others will do; throw them into water as you do them; put them into a preserving-pan, and with as little water as will only half cover them; let them coddle, and, when the lower side is done, turn them. Observe that they do not lie too close when first put in. Mix one or two grains of pounded cochineal or a tea-spoonful of the tincture with the water, and boil with the fruit. When sufficiently done, take them out on the dish they are to be served in, the stalks downwards. Take the water and make a rich jelly of it with loaf-sugar, boiling the thin rind and juice of a lemon. When come to a jelly, let it grow cold, and put it on and among the apples; cut the peel of the lemon in narrow strips, and put it across the eye of the apple.
A Victorian dessert of whole poached apples set in their own lemon-scented jelly. The recipe leans entirely on the pectin in the apple peel and cores, so the poaching liquid is the whole point — do not throw it out.
- Apple choicePippins and golden rennets are firm, tart, high-pectin cooking apples. Any apple that holds its shape when poached will do: Braeburn, Cox, Granny Smith, or a true cooking apple if you accept some softening.
- Save the trimmingsThe recipe does not direct this, but the pared peel and cores are a source of pectin: tie them in muslin and poach them alongside the apples, then discard before straining. The syrup should set more readily.
- "Coddle"A bare simmer, water barely trembling, never a rolling boil. Whole pared apples will burst and slump if the water moves hard. Reckon on 10-20 minutes a side depending on size and variety; a skewer should meet slight resistance, not slide through.
- CochinealCochineal is a red dye made from dried scale insects, still sold as carmine or E120. "One or two grains" is an apothecaries' measure, roughly 65-130 mg — a very small pinch. The tincture is an alcohol solution. Modern liquid food colouring works, though it gives a flatter red.
- Loaf sugarLoaf or lump sugar was refined white sugar broken from a cone; ordinary granulated sugar is the direct equivalent. For the jelly, allow roughly equal weight of sugar to strained poaching liquid, and boil until a spoonful sets on a chilled saucer.
- The lemonPare the rind in strips with a peeler, avoiding pith, and boil it with the juice in the syrup. Fish the strips out when the jelly is made, then slice them thin to lay across the hollow of each apple as the recipe directs.
- Setting and assemblyThe recipe says to let the jelly grow cold before putting it on and among the apples; in practice cool it to the point where it is syrupy but still pourable, since poured hot it runs off and poured fully set it will not coat. Chill the assembled dish before serving.
- YieldThe recipe gives no quantity; six to eight apples would fill a serving dish and serve about the same number.