No. 3181

Rose Jelly

Gelee a la Rose

Place a pan on the fire containing one pint of clear syrup at twenty-eight degrees; at the first boil mix in with it two handfuls of fresh, highly perfumed rose leaves, and remove from the fire to let infuse a quarter of an hour while covered. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve and mix in with it a sufficient quantity of gelatine or clarified isinglass, adding also two gills of filtered orange and lemon juice, and four or five spoonfuls of good brandy. Taste the jelly, test its consistency on ice, in a small mold, and when perfect pour it into a jelly mold and let harden for one hour on ice, then unmold on a cold dish.

← No. 3180 Orange Jelly in Cups Cold Entremets — Creams, Jellies & Charlottes No. 3182 Russian Jelly →

For the Modern Kitchen Do not make this as written.

Ranhofer assumes a professional pastry station: a saccharometer, a supply of isinglass, and a cook who judges set by eye. The conversions below cover what the text leaves unsaid.

Syrup at twenty-eight degreesThat is 28 degrees Baume on a syrup hydrometer, roughly a 50-52 percent sugar solution — on the order of 1 lb 2 oz of sugar dissolved in 1 pint of water, then measured out to a pint. Any medium-heavy sugar syrup in that range behaves the same here.
Rose leaves means petalsNineteenth-century kitchen French uses feuilles de rose for the petals, not the foliage. Two handfuls is roughly 2 to 3 packed cups of petals from strongly scented old garden varieties; modern florist roses are bred for form and shipping and contribute almost no perfume.
Only untreated rosesFlorist and nursery roses are routinely treated with systemic pesticides and fungicides that cannot be washed off. Use petals from plants you know have not been sprayed, and pinch off the bitter white heel at the base of each petal.
Gills and spoonfulsTwo gills is one cup of combined orange and lemon juice; Ranhofer does not give the proportion between the two. Four or five spoonfuls of brandy in this book means tablespoons, about 1/4 to 1/3 cup.
Isinglass and gelatineIsinglass is dried sturgeon swim bladder, clarified into sheets; it has essentially left the kitchen and gelatine is the direct substitute. For the roughly 3 cups of liquid here, a firm unmoldable jelly needs about 3 tablespoons of powdered gelatine or 8 to 9 sheets, bloomed in cold water first.
Acid and alcohol weaken the setA cup of citrus juice plus brandy both soften gelatine, which is presumably why Ranhofer tells you to test the jelly's consistency in a small mold on ice before committing. Do that; add more bloomed gelatine if the trial slumps.
Heat managementAdd the gelatine to the strained syrup while it is warm but well off the boil, and add the juice and brandy last, off the heat. Boiling gelatine degrades its setting power, and boiling drives off the rose aroma you just spent fifteen minutes infusing.
Setting and unmoldingOne hour on ice suits a shallow professional mold; in a domestic refrigerator a 1-quart mold wants 4 to 6 hours or overnight. Dip the mold briefly in warm water and invert onto a chilled plate. About three cups of jelly, enough for roughly six.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and its long chapter of cold entremets reflects a period when a table's dessert course was judged on molded jellies — clear, glossy, faintly perfumed, and stiff enough to hold a fluted shape through a summer dinner. Rose as a dessert flavour reached European kitchens by way of Persian and Arab confectionery, and by the eighteenth century rose water and conserve of roses were standing items in English and French still-rooms; Ranhofer's version is the restaurant refinement of that tradition, using a fresh petal infusion rather than a bottled distillate. The isinglass he offers as an alternative to gelatine was the older and more prestigious setting agent, prized because sturgeon-bladder gel sets brilliantly clear, and its disappearance from home kitchens tracks the rise of cheap, reliable commercial gelatine in exactly these decades.