lemon jelly Jellies can be made from all sorts of fruit juice. You need one sachet of gelatine (or as a vegetarian alternative the same amount of Agar Agar Powder) to give a firm set to one pint of liquid. If you would prefer a softer jelly to serve in individual glasses, then add an extra 1/4 pint of water. Ingredients: 1 sachet (approx. 11g) powdered gelatine (or powdered Agar) pint cold water pint hot water 4 oz sugar Juice 3 lemons Rind 1 lemon What to do next: In a saucepan, heat the pint of water with the sugar and lemon rind until the sugar dissolves. Leave to cool. In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatine over a cup of boiling water and stir briskly until dissolved. Set aside to become cold and firm. If liked, you can add pieces of fruit to set in your jelly: raspberries, strawberries, slices of banana or orange - just don't try fresh pineapple or kiwi fruit! Set aside to become cold and firm Jellies set firm because of the protein gelatine. The long strands of the gelatine swell up and form a mesh of interlinked fibres that permeate the liquid. This mesh traps the water so it cannot flow freely. Gelatine is derived from animal tissue such as bones and skin. Meat stocks to make sauces obtain some of their thickness from the long boiling of bones, which releases the gelatine into the stock. Just don't try fresh pineapple or kiwi fruit! These fruits contain an enzyme, a molecular machine, which chops up proteins. As gelatine is a protein it is chopped up by the enzyme. As the gelatine fibres are chopped up their net falls to pieces, allowing the water to flow freely and turning the jelly back into a sloppy liquid. If you fancy pineapple in your jelly, then use the tinned sort. As part of the canning process the fruit has been heated up. This destroys the enzyme so that it can no longer chop up the gelatine. Take home tip When cooking with gelatine, make sure the liquid it is in does not have a chance to boil. This will destroy the long strands of gelatine and your liquid will not set. << Go Back