I have
finally solved the mystery of my grandmother's coffee jelly.
I may have
mentioned that my grandmother never really learned to cook, with the exception
of penuche fudge and meatloaf. But I
have a lingering memory of her and my mother making a coffee gelatin dessert a
long time ago. The result was memorable because it consisted of two distinct
layers, one clear and dark, one lighter and opaque. It was never replicated,
and I didn't like coffee back then, so I more or less forgot about it.
But this
past weekend, in my never-ending hunt for strange and obscure cooking
memorabilia, I came upon a Knox Gelatine pamphlet dated 1927 (when my
grandmother would have been a young bride), and lo and behold, there were two
coffee-based recipes in there, and a light-bulb went on: make both, and spoon one over the other
before chilling (the lighter one floats, and when you unmold the dessert, it
ends up on the bottom).
Of course,
gelatine in 1927 is not quite the same as gelatine today. For one thing, the older form required some
form of "acidulation" to make it work, either in the form of an
acidic fruit juice or by adding a separate package of lemon flavoring (you have
to remember that lemons were harder to come by in the 1920s; they were probably
also smaller, so when a recipe called for "juice of half a lemon" it
may have been no more than a teaspoon's worth). I ignored the whole issue of
lemons here.
Per their
measurements, a tablespoon of gelatin could "jell" a pint of liquid.
The recipes given below were said to make 6 servings, although what size that
may have been is anybody's guess. A half cup?
Funny
thing—I have a whole lot of molds for jellied desserts, both large and small.
COFFEE JELLY
1 level
Tblsp Knox Gelatine
¼ cup cold
water
1 ½ cups
clear strong coffee (hot)
1/3 cup
sugar
A few
grains of salt
Soak the
gelatine in the cold water for five minutes.
Dissolve in the hot coffee. Add
the sugar and salt and stir until dissolved.
Rinse your
mold in cold water and fill with the jelly mixture. Refrigerate until set.
(Small molds with harden more quickly than a single large one.)
To unmold,
immerse the mold to the top for a second in warm—not hot!—water (do not let the
water flow over the molded jelly).
Slightly loosen jelly at the edge, turning the mold from side to side,
then place a serving dish on top of the mold, invert it, and carefully remove
the mold.
MOCHA SPONGE
1 level Tblsp
Knox Gelatine
¼ cup cold
water
1 ½ cups
clear strong coffee (hot)
3/4 cup
sugar
Whites of
two eggs (room temperature)
A few
grains of salt
Soak the
gelatin in cold water for five minutes.
Add to the hot coffee, then add sugar.
Strain into
a pan or metal bowl. Set the pan/bowl in
a larger pan/bowl of ice water, cool slightly, then beat, using a wire whisk,
until quite stiff.
Beat the
whites of the eggs until stiff, then add to the cooled mixture and continue
beating until the mixture will hold its shape.
Turn into a
wet mold. Chill thoroughly.
Remove from
mold and serve with sugar and thin cream.
Of course
you can make either one on its own. But if
you're trying to make My Grandmother's Layered Coffee Jelly, you would wet your
mold, pour in a layer of the clear jelly, then carefully spoon over it a layer
of the foamy jelly, and chill. When you
serve it, garnish with plenty of sweetened whipped cream.
Who
knows—maybe molded salads will make a comeback!
(We will not explore the social and bovine implications of this publication!)
