Raspberry jellies made with vanilla and rosé

   My relationship with jelly never quite "jelled," thanks to a great aunt who served me jellied chicken straight from a can. I shudder remembering the rings on the side of the clear jelly and the grim grey meat trapped within. Ugh.

Then there was that dinner party where the hostess served jellied consommé as the appetizer. The delicate beefy taste was appealing, yet the wobbly texture gave me the willies. I still cringe when served aspic - even with terrine de foie gras - and I always peel the jelly off any slice of paté de campagne that hits my plate.

I still love a good jelly, though, but only when it's served sweet.

Anyone who enjoyed Jell-O as a child - and that's most of us - knows how good a cube of bouncy, ruby red, cherry Jell-O can be on a hot day. I have a friend who still considers Jell-O made with fruit cocktail as The Ultimate. But really, who after the age of 10 can really get away with eating Jell-O for dessert? And there's no denying the commercial jelly package ingredient list has many a mom searching for recipes for making homemade jellies with fruit juice instead of a powdered mix.

Now pastry chefs are jumping on the jelly bandwagon as well. On plated desserts I'm seeing cubes of jelly in sophisticated flavours like passion fruit and Meyer lemon dotted around the plate to add little bolts of flavour. Between layers of tuile cookies and cream, you'll often find a thin round of raspberry or mango jelly. I've seen apricot jelly in sheet form wrapped around a chocolate mousse to create a modern day Sacher torte, and countless numbers of those pretty verrines are topped or layered with jellies such as coffee, lavender, or port.

If there's one dessert that has turned many a foodie onto the charms of jelly, it's that milky Italian fave, panna cotta. The best are made with reduced cream, sugar, vanilla beans, lemon rind, and only the slightest bit of gelatin. But it's the lush texture that melts on contact with the tongue that leaves us yearning for more.

Unlike the Jell-O of yesteryear, the new jellies offer an array of interesting textures. The classic recipe for jelly is one package of powdered gelatin (five leaves of sheet gelatin) for every two cups of liquid. But why stick to a formula? Add less and you'll end up with a gooey liquid; double the amount and your jelly will be as toothsome as a chocolate truffle.

Ultimately the best part of making jelly is that you can use any flavour - think pink lemonade, Campari and grapefruit, green tea, mint julep, even Champagne. (Kiwis, papayas and pineapple contain an enzyme that breaks down gelatin, so avoid using those fruits when making jellies.) 

Of course jellies can be served alone, but why stop there? Use its jelling properties to capture a swirl of ingredients like berries, herbs, spices, candied citrus zest, and chopped fruit.

Making jelly is easy, yet there are a few hard rules that must be followed.

Gelatin is available in both sheet and powder form. Sheets (available at most gourmet food shops and some supermarkets) are easier to use, but the powder is more readily available. Generally speaking, one sachet of gelatin powder weighing 10 grams (or filling one tablespoon) is equivalent to five sheets of "gold" gelatin leaves, which is the most common of the sheet gelatin. Because weights can vary slightly, it is best to look at the weight of gelatin needed for a recipe rather than the number of leaves.

Gelatin leaves must always be placed one by one in cold water for a good five minutes to allow them to soften, and always squeeze them out well before adding them to a hot liquid. Powdered gelatin must first be "bloomed," i.e., combined with a small amount of cold liquid to soften it before it's added to a hot liquid. Unbloomed gelatin won't set properly and will give jelly a grainy texture.

The newest craze on the jelly scene is agar-agar, a seaweed-based white powder. Popular in Asian desserts and sold locally in most health food stores, agar-agar produces a more malleable jelly that can be served either cold, or unlike gelatin-based desserts, hot. Also unlike gelatin, agar-agar must be boiled first when making jellies, puddings and custards.

Vegetarians should note that though gelatin is made from rendered animal cartilage, agar-agar is a natural vegetable gelatin and can provide an excellent substitute.

Recipe: Nigella's Raspberry Jellies 

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