ORANGE JELLY
This tasty jelly blows children’s party jelly out of the water. It’s a great place to start exploring real jelly and it shows just how simple a fresh fruit jelly is to make.
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For 500g/1lb 2oz, serves 4
INGREDIENTS
juice from about 4 medium oranges – to make 300ml/10fl oz/1¼ cups
juice of ½ lemon
100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup sugar syrup
100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup water
5 leaves of gelatine
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METHOD​
First the fun part: choose your mould! Use water and a measuring jug (measuring cup) to check its volume. Then adjust the recipe as necessary. If you are going to fill glasses with the jelly, get these ready. Regardless of whether you are using a mould or glasses, it’s a good idea to get into a habit of putting them on a tray to catch any accidental spills as you move the jelly to the refrigerator.
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Cut the oranges in half and squeeze them, pips (seeds) and all, into a measuring jug (measuring cup). Keep going until you have 300ml/10fl oz/1¼ cups. Then squeeze in the lemon juice.
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The orange juice is going to be relatively tart, so you will need to sweeten it. Add about equal quantities of syrup and water to the orange juice until you reach 500ml/18fl oz/generous 2 cups. If you think that you have exceptionally sweet oranges, then by all means add less syrup. In any case, the volume of the liquid must reach 500ml/18fl oz/generous 2 cups.
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Now for turning it into a jelly. Cut the leaves of gelatine into a few pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the jelly mixture so that the gelatine is just covered. Let the gelatine soften for 10 minutes while you bring a small pan of water to a simmer.
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Place the bowl of softened gelatine over the simmering water and stir from time to time until totally melted. This will take about 10 minutes. Pour the remainder of the jelly mixture over the melted gelatine and stir to combine.
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Finally, pour through a sieve (strainer) into a measuring jug (measuring cup) and then carefully fill your mould. Refrigerate until set, ideally overnight.
SERVING
1. Unmould the jelly onto a serving plate (see instruction below).
2. Serve with ice cream, Chantilly cream or pouring cream.
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EASY LEMON JELLY
Freshly made lemon jelly is utterly delicious. But if you use lemon juice, you will run into a couple of problems. The first is that lemon juice is a pale colour ; the second is that if you use too much lemon juice, there’s a danger that its acidity will stop the gelatine doing its work. One way of getting a lovely yellow colour is by infusing lemon zest in sugar syrup; even simpler is to add a little bit of orange juice, which turns the jelly a radiant lemon yellow.
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For 500g/1lb 2oz, serves 4
INGREDIENTS
125ml/4fl oz/½ cup lemon juice
100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup orange juice
125ml/4fl oz/½ cup sugar syrup
150ml/5fl oz/ 2/3 cup water
5 leaves of gelatine
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METHOD​
Squeeze the juices into a measuring jug (measuring cup) and then add the sugar syrup and water.
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Cut the leaves of gelatine into a few pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Add a few tablespoons of the jelly mixture so that the gelatine is just covered. Let the gelatine soften for 10 minutes whilst you bring a small pan of water to a simmer.
Place the bowl of softened gelatine over the simmering water and stir from time to time until totally melted. This takes about 10 minutes. Then pour the remainder of the jelly mixture over the melted gelatine and stir to combine. Pour through a sieve (strainer) into a jug and then carefully fill your mould. Refrigerate until set, ideally overnight.
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SERVING
1. Unmould the jelly onto a serving plate (see instruction below).
2. Serve with ice cream, Chantilly cream or pouring cream.
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TOPS TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL JELLYING
What to do if you don’t have a microwave
Place the jelly cubes in a metal or heat-proof glass bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the melted jelly cubes to the measuring jug (making sure not to leave any behind) before continuing with the recipe.
What fruit can I add?
You can add almost anything but don’t add pineapple, kiwi or melon or your jelly won’t set.
Can I add alcohol?
Yes, but don’t replace more than 25% of the water with hard spirits as too high ABV will prevent the jelly setting.
Unmoulding the jelly
To unmould from a Benham & Froud plastic jelly mould first fill a bowl with hot water (about 60 degrees).Holding the mould at the edges dip the mould into the water for about 5 seconds. Ensure that you put the mould in right up to the rim.
Place an upside down plate over the mould, turn the mould and plate over whilst giving it a firm shake. The jelly should drop out. If not dip again for a few more seconds.
Wetting the plate you are unmoulding onto first is a good idea: it allows you to reposition the jelly.
Cleaning the mould
Benham & Froud plastic moulds should be hand washed and left to air dry. Putting the mould through a dishwasher cycle will make it deform.​​​​