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Fruit Jelly Sandwich
Soak one box of gelatine in one cup of cold water, and dissolve it in one cup of boiling water. Add one cup of sugar, one-half cup of lemon juice, one cup of orange juice, and half a cup of mashed red raspberries. When cool spread on squares of sponge cake, or thinly cut and lightly buttered white bread. Cover with another slice.
This is a firm lemon-orange jelly used as a filling rather than a jam substitute, and its success depends entirely on catching it at the right stage of setting.
- "One box of gelatine"A period box of granulated gelatine is usually reckoned at about 1 ounce, roughly four modern 1/4-ounce envelopes (about 3 tablespoons). Against the roughly 4 cups of total liquid here, that gives a firm, sliceable jelly rather than a wobbly dessert set, which is what a sandwich filling needs.
- Soak, then dissolveThe cold-water soak is not optional with granulated gelatine: five to ten minutes of blooming lets the grains swell, and only then does the cup of boiling water dissolve them cleanly. Skipping it leaves gritty threads that never disperse.
- The hinge: spread it half-set"when cool" most likely means the syrupy, egg-white stage, thick enough to mound on a spoon but not yet firm. Spread it warm and it soaks the bread or cake to pulp; wait until it has fully gelled and it will not spread at all.
- Acid and setHalf a cup of lemon juice plus a cup of orange juice is a strongly acidic mix, and acid weakens gelatine somewhat. Add the juices after the gelatine is fully dissolved and off the heat rather than boiling them together.
- Fresh pineappleNot called for, but worth knowing if you substitute: fresh or frozen pineapple, kiwi and papaya carry proteases that dissolve gelatine and prevent it setting. Canned versions are heat-treated and give no trouble.
- RaspberriesHalf a cup mashed is there for colour and perfume more than bulk. Press it through a sieve if you object to seeds in a tea sandwich; frozen raspberries, thawed, work as well as fresh.
- YieldThe jelly makes a good quart or more, far more than one round of sandwiches. Pour the surplus into a shallow pan, chill until firm, and cut it into squares as a jellied sweet, or halve the whole recipe.
- Bread or cakeFor the bread version, cut thin, butter lightly to the edges as a moisture barrier, and fill shortly before serving; these do not hold overnight. Sponge cake squares hold up better, and the recipe names them first.
Sweet sandwiches of this kind belong to the American afternoon-tea and card-party spread of the early 1900s, when "sandwich" covered anything served between two thin slices, cake included. The recipe also reflects how much easier gelatine had become to use: granulated, packaged gelatine sold by the box replaced the long labour of boiling calves' feet or isinglass, and by the turn of the century a cook could set a quart of jelly in an afternoon without clarifying anything. The lemon-and-orange base with a little mashed raspberry is stiffened up and repurposed as a filling, and the light buttering of the bread is the same trick used in cucumber sandwiches to keep the moisture out of the crumb.