CONSTANTIA JELLY.
Infuse in a pint of water for five minutes the rind of half a Seville orange, pared extremely thin; add an ounce of isinglass; and when this is dissolved throw in four ounces of good sugar in lumps; stir well, and simmer the whole for a few minutes, then mix with it four large wineglassesful of Constantia, and strain the jelly through a fine cloth of close texture; let it settle and cool, then pour it gently from any sediment there may be, into a mould which has been laid for an hour or two into water. We had this jelly made in the first instance for an invalid who was forbidden to take acids, and it proved so agreeable in flavour that we can recommend it for the table. The isinglass, with an additional quarter of an ounce, might be clarified, and the sugar and orange-rind boiled with it afterwards.
Water, 1 pint; rind, 1/2 Seville orange: 5 minutes. Isinglass, 1 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.: 5 to 7 minutes. Constantia, 4 large wineglassesful.
RHUBARB ISINGLASS JELLY.
(Author’s Original Receipt. Good.)
A jelly of beautiful tint, and excellent flavour, may be made with fresh young rhubarb-stems, either of the giant or dwarf kind, if they be of a bright pink colour. Wash, and drain or wipe them; slice without paring them, taking them quite free from any coarse or discoloured parts. Put two pounds and a half, and a quart of water into an enamelled stewpan, which is more suitable to the purpose than any other; throw in two ounces of sugar in lumps, and boil the rhubarb very gently for twenty minutes, or until it is thoroughly stewed, but not sufficiently so to thicken the juice. Strain it through a muslin folded in four; measure a pint and a half of it; heat it afresh in a clean pan; add an ounce and a half of the finest isinglass, and six ounces or more of the best sugar in large lumps; stir it often until the isinglass is entirely dissolved, then let it boil quickly for a few minutes to throw up the scum; clear this off carefully, and strain the jelly twice through a muslin strainer,[[160]] folded as the first; let it cool, and mould it as usual.
[160]. These muslin strainers should be large, as it is necessary to fold them in general to a quarter of their original size, to render them sufficiently thick for clearing juice or jelly.
STRAWBERRY ISINGLASS JELLY.
A great variety of equally elegant and excellent jellies for the table may be made with clarified isinglass, clear syrup, and the juice of almost any kind of fresh fruit; but as the process of making them is nearly the same for all, we shall limit our receipts to one or two, which will serve to direct the makers for the rest. Boil together quickly for fifteen minutes one pint of water and three-quarters of a pound of very good sugar; measure a quart of ripe richly-flavoured strawberries without their stalks; the scarlet answer best, from the colour which they give: on these pour the boiling syrup, and let them stand all night. The next day clarify two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of water, as directed at the beginning of this chapter; drain the syrup from the strawberries very closely, add to it two or three tablespoonsful of red currant juice, and the clear juice of one large or two small lemons; and when the isinglass is nearly cold mix the whole, and put it into moulds. The French, who excel in these fruit-jellies, always mix the separate ingredients when they are almost cold; and they also place them over ice for an hour or so after they are moulded, which is a great advantage, as they then require less isinglass, and are in consequence much more delicate. When the fruit abounds, instead of throwing it into the syrup, bruise lightly from three to four pints, throw two tablespoonsful of sugar over it, and let the juice flow from it for an hour or two; then pour a little water over, and use the juice without boiling, which will give a jelly of finer flavour than the other.
Water, 1 pint; sugar, 3/4 lb.: 15 minutes. Strawberries, 1 quart; isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint (white of egg, 1 to 2 teaspoonsful); juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons.