Gin and Tonic Jelly - 1965
- Adam Cloete
- Jun 2, 2016
- 2 min read
Ingredients 300 millilitres water (plus 50ml / 3 tablespoons more) 300 grams caster sugar zest and juice of 2 lemons 400 millilitres tonic water (not slimline) 250 millilitres gin 28 grams gelatine leaves 2 punnets whitecurrants (or 3 - 4 punnets raspberries optional) 1 teaspoon icing sugar (if using raspberries)
Method
You will need a 1¼ litre / 5 cup jelly mould, lightly greased with almond or vegetable oil.
Put the 300ml / 1¼ cups water and the sugar into a wide, thick-bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil. Let boil for 5 minutes, take off the heat, add the lemon zest and leave to steep for 15 minutes. Strain into a measuring jug, then add the lemon juice, the tonic water and the gin; you should have reached the 1,200ml / scant 5 cup mark; if not, add more tonic water, gin or lemon juice to taste. Soak the gelatine leaves in a dish of cold water for 5 minutes to soften. Meanwhile, warm 250ml / 1 cup of the gin and tonic mixture in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Take off the heat and let it cool a little, then squeeze out the gelatine leaves and stir them into the warm gin and tonic mixture until dissolved. Then stir this into the remaining gin and tonic mixture in the measuring jug, making sure it is thoroughly dispersed. Pour into the mould and, when cold, put in the fridge to set. This should take about 6 hours. When you are ready to unmould, half-fill a sink with warm water and stand the jelly mould in it for 30 seconds or so. Clamp a big flat plate over the jelly and invert to unmould, shaking it as you do so. If it doesn't work, stand it in the warm water for another half-minute or so and try again. If you've used a dome mould, surround the jelly with whitecurrants (Sainsbury's sells them in summer, as do many greengrocers'), or fill the hole with them if you've used a ring mould. Raspberries are just as good, but dust these with icing sugar - it sounds poncey, but it makes the pale-jade glimmer of the jelly and the otherwise-too-vibrant red of the fruit come together on the plate. The whitecurrants should be left to glimmer, opal-like, without interference.
Source and Photo: Nigella
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