The girl's own cookery book

Now we will suppose that we wish to make the same kind of jelly with gelatine. And first we must remember that it needs a little judgment to determine how much gelatine will be required for a given quantity of jelly. For one thing, the weather has to be considered, a smaller proportion of stiffening being needed in cold than in hot weather. The size of the moulds, too, has to be taken into consideration, for jelly will set more easily in small moulds than in large ones. The quality of the gelatine, too, is a point to be thought of, although the gelatine of respectable dealers may be relied upon with tolerable security. It is a mistake to make jelly too stiff, because it quite destroys its delicacy. A jelly ought to keep its shape, and yet tremble in the dish when touched with a spoon, and it ought to dissolve instantly when put into the mouth. I once saw some jelly which was so stiff that it could have been tossed across the table from one glass dish to another without fear of being broken. The cook who made it was exceedingly proud of it. She said, “ You don’t break my jellies in a hurry.” I thought to myself, “ No, and you would not eat them in a hurry either,” for I knew the jelly would taste like glue. 1 did not think it was good jelly, though it might be firm. There is still another point to be considered. The more gelatine we use, the more eggs we shall require for clearing. I daresay you remember that when we were talking about clarifying soup, we said that the quantity of raw meat needed depended not upon the quantity of stock, but upon the meat used in making the stock. It is the same here ; the stiffer the jelly the more difficult it will be to clear, and the more eggs will be required for the purpose. At the same time our jelly must be stiff enough, or it will break in the dish, and that will constitute it a failure. The Girl’s Own Cookery Book. Altogether, I think we may say, that with average gelatine, one ounce may be taken for a pint and a half of liquid, exclusive of a wineglassful of sherry, and half a wineglassful of brandy ; while in hot weather, when ice cannot be obtained, an ounce of gelatine should be taken for a pint of liquid. As to the method of preparing jelly with gelatine, we first measure the quantity of water we think it wise to use ; we then soak the gelatine in as much water as will cover it, for about an hour ; dissolve it in a little more Avater, add the remainder with the sugar, lemon, and flavouring ingredients. Put the saucepan on the fire, and proceed as for calves’ feet jelly ; that is, we whisk it till it rises in the pan, draw it back, and let it stand for twenty minutes, strain it, add the wine, and put it into the mould. All sorts of jelly may be made by varying the flavour and following the directions here given. Orange jelly is made by using oranges instead of lemons. In maraschino jelly, maraschino is used instead of wine ; ditto, noyeau ; ditto, various liqueurs. In various fruit jellies, the juice of fruit is mixed with water to make up the quantity of liquid, and wine may then be omitted. In every case there must be more lemon-juice than lemon rind, for acid helps to clear the jelly as well as to flavour it.