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Jelly, Benedictine
Prepare a jelly exactly the same as creme de cacao substituting same quantity of Benedictine for the creme de cacao, and serve in same manner.
This is a variation entry rather than a standalone recipe: it sends you back to the book's creme de cacao jelly and swaps the liqueur. A few things about the technique need translating.
- You need the base recipe firstThe instruction is meaningless on its own. Find the creme de cacao jelly in the same section; the present entry tells you nothing about the base, so the quantities, the gelatine and the moulding all have to come from there.
- Gelatine has changed formOlder recipes may call for sheet or leaf gelatine by weight, or for "a box" of granulated. Modern powdered gelatine comes in 1/4 oz (7 g) envelopes, one of which will just set 2 cups of liquid to a spoonable jelly. If the original gives a box or a number of sheets, treat the quantity as approximate and test a spoonful on a cold saucer.
- Alcohol weakens the setBenedictine is around 40% alcohol by volume, well above the usual strength of creme de cacao, and spirit interferes with gelatine's network. Swapping it volume-for-volume as directed may give a slightly softer set, so test a spoonful on a cold saucer and add a little more gelatine if it will not hold.
- Add the liqueur off the heatThis is the hinge. Dissolve the gelatine in warm liquid, then let it cool to about body temperature before stirring in the Benedictine. Boiling it drives off both the alcohol and the herbal top notes that are the entire point of the dish.
- Benedictine is not interchangeable with sweet liqueurs generallyIt is honeyed and strongly herbal, closer to Chartreuse in character than to a fruit cordial, and its spice reads very differently from creme de cacao. Taste the mixture before setting and adjust the base accordingly.
- Serving"In same manner" simply refers you back to the creme de cacao jelly; check there for the vessel and any garnish. Allow about 1/3 cup per person; a 2-cup batch serves six as an after-dinner sweet. It is not a dish for children.
- Setting timeNo time is given. Count on four hours in a modern refrigerator, or overnight for a jelly firm enough to unmould.
Benedictine is made at Fécamp in Normandy, and the company's own account credits a 16th-century Benedictine monk, Dom Bernardo Vincelli, with the original elixir; the recipe's rediscovery and commercial launch by the wine merchant Alexandre Le Grand is generally dated to the 1860s, while the monastic origin story is traditional rather than documented. The initials D.O.M. on the bottle stand for Deo Optimo Maximo. Liqueur jellies like this one belonged to the late-Victorian and Edwardian dessert repertoire, when gelatine had become cheap and reliable enough to be treated as a vehicle for anything in the bar.