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Claret Jelly

“How I like claret! … It fills one’s mouth with a gushing freshness, then goes down to cool and feverless; then, you do not feel it quarreling with one’s liver. No; ’tis rather a peace-maker, and lies as quiet as it did in the grape. Then it is as fragrant as the Queen Bee, and the more ethereal part mounts into the brain, not assaulting the cerebral apartments, like a bully looking for his trull, and hurrying from door to door, bouncing against the wainscott, but rather walks like Aladdin about his enchanted palace, so gently that you do not feel his step.”—John Keats

  • 4 lemons (125ml / ¼ pint juice)
  • 600ml (1 ¼ pints) water
  • 170g (6 oz) sugar
  • 40g (1 ½ oz) gelatine
  • whites and crushed shells of two eggs
  • carmine
  • 125ml (¼ pt) claret
  1. Thinly cut the lemon rinds and mix with water, sugar and gelatine. Add crushed shells and whites of eggs and the lemon juice. Heat slowly, whisking all the time until nearly boiling, then stop whisking and allow to boil. Pour in the claret without disturbing the foam ‘crust’. Boil again to the top of the pan, then remove from the heat, cover, and leave to settle for a minute. Filter the results through a cloth, cool, add the colouring, remove the froth and place in 4-6 individual moulds in the fridge for about an hour to set.
Recipe Microformat