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Grape Juice Gelatine
1 cup water 2 tablespoons gelatine Juice 1/2 lemon 2/3 cup Karo, Red Label 1 pint grape juice Pour one-fourth cup of the water over the gelatine, let stand five minutes, then add to the remaining water which should be boiling. Combine with the other ingredients, transfer to a mould which has been rinsed with cold water, and chill.
A straightforward moulded jelly from a corn-syrup promotional booklet. Two things need attention: the gelatine quantity, which is generous by modern standards, and the syrup, which no longer exists under that name.
- Gelatine measureTwo tablespoons is roughly two envelopes (about 1/2 oz) of modern granulated gelatine, setting close to two pints of liquid here. That gives a firm, sliceable jelly meant to stand up out of a mould rather than the soft spoonable set most people expect now; one envelope produces a much softer result if you plan to serve it in glasses.
- Karo Red LabelKaro was sold in colour-coded grades, Crystal White and Blue Label being the lighter syrups and Red Label generally taken as the darker, stronger-flavoured one. Dark corn syrup is the nearest current equivalent; light corn syrup will let the grape flavour read cleaner if you prefer that.
- Blooming the gelatineThe quarter cup of cold water and five-minute stand is the bloom, and it matters. Adding dry gelatine straight to boiling water gives lumps that never fully dissolve and a jelly that sets unevenly.
- Do not boil the fruitThe grape juice and lemon go in off the heat, after the gelatine has dissolved in the boiling water. Prolonged heat dulls grape juice and drives off its aroma.
- Grape juiceThe juice intended was almost certainly bottled unfermented Concord, sweet and strongly perfumed. A modern 100 percent Concord juice behaves the same; a dry or unsweetened varietal grape juice will taste thin against two-thirds of a cup of syrup.
- The rinsed mouldWetting the mould with cold water rather than oiling it is what lets the jelly slip out clean. To unmould, dip the outside in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto a wetted plate so the jelly can be slid into place.
- Yield and chillingJust under two pints, serving six to eight as a supper sweet. Allow at least four hours in the refrigerator, longer for a deep mould; the original simply says to chill and gives no time at all.
The naming of a specific brand and label in the ingredient list points to a corn-syrup promotional booklet: refiners issued such booklets to teach cooks to use glucose syrup in place of sugar, and they circulated widely in the early twentieth century. The dish itself sits in a long line of moulded fruit jellies that became household staples once powdered gelatine was sold cheaply in envelopes, replacing the laborious business of boiling calves' feet or isinglass. Unfermented grape juice had its own particular standing in American kitchens of the period, promoted by temperance interests as a respectable substitute for wine, which is part of why it turns up so often in supper dishes and party desserts rather than only at breakfast.