Friday, May 6, 2011

A JELLY GIFT



I think this would make a lovely Mother's Day "gift"! A jelly presented with things inside. Namely fruit. It's sweet, it's pretty, it's a "gift". It's healthier than cake. It puts less calories on the hips and what nots.

Jelled orange juice packed with lychees and a few ruby red strawberries for accent. A golden glob of sunshine gift-wrapped.   


Here's Happy Mother's Day to all mothers. :) Trials and tribulations. Love and laughter. Gratefulness and gratification. What a life.

A Mother's Day....it's full of surprises! And then some ~




I used Sarah-Jane's unique silicone moulds from siliconemoulds.com. I have made HAPPY chocolate cake, carrot CAKE cake, Easter egg madeleines, plum financiers, brioche and some milk jellies using Sarah's moulds and each had turned out perfectly moulded every time. But 'gift' moulds are the first I've ever come across. 

The mould comes in a set of two in one. But if you wanted to use only one you could easily cut it in two. Which I didn't. Because it was too pretty in pink to be cut. 





The recipe ~

Agar agar makes an unwobble-ble jelly. I have never used agar agar in powder form before so I had no idea how much powder to put in. I scrutinized the packet and spied "10 gm .......800 ml water." I was only using about 1 1/4 -1 1/2 cups of juice. So I used about 5 1/2 teaspoons of agar agar. It turned out very firm. I would reduce a little next time.  I think I prefer slightly wobble-ble jellies. This jelly reminded me of a very firm mattress.

Gelatine makes a wobbly melt-in-the-mouth jelly. Agar agar would not melt in the warmth of your mouth. You'll have to bite it to get it down. We are texture obsessed..

I do prefer working with agar agar because it doesn't need refrigeration. I know for sure that it will set. And set very firm. So there is no need to be delicate or for your heart to stop when un-moulding it. 

I remember mak ciks (aunties) leaving trays of bright red agar agar on the kitchen table while they went around with their other kitchen chores. Almost immeidately the agar agar would start to set, get firm and solid. Then I would watch and hear them being cut with a scrunch using one of those copper zig-zag-gy knives and the jellies would be served in slabs. Very pretty!



  
Approximately ................

1  cups orange juice
1/2 cup apple juice
Sugar to taste (if juice isn't sweet enough)
about 5 tsp agar agar powder (or slightly less for a less firm jelly)

Some lychees and a few strawberries to fill

Warm juice, sugar and agar agar powder until sugar and agar agar powder dissolves completely. Pour a thin  1/4 inch layer of jelly into the mould and chill for few minutes, about 5 minutes until the jelly just firms up a little. Drop in the fruits gently. If the mould is small you can fill up with fruits to the top and pour in the rest of the jelly liquid. If the mould is larger do a layer of fruit at a time and chill in between for about 10 minutes each time. Take it out, scratch the surface with a fork a little to ensure that the next layer of jelly adheres. arrange another layer of fruit and pour on jelly liquid again and so on and so forth until you reach the top.





10 comments:

Puan Ros @ Sinaranmenu.blogspot said...

Hai zurin.It will be a wonderful
Mother's Day give.Thanks for sharing and Happy Mother's day to you.Hope you have a wonderful celebration with your love one.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

What a lovely gift and those molds are so clever! It redefines edible gift! :)

La Table De Nana said...

So nicely presented..love the molds..i've worked w/ agar agar.. ..it's fun..

Pretty pretty Zurin..Happy Mother's Day~

pigpigscorner said...

Very interesting moulds! Happy mother's day to you!

Sarah-Jane - SiliconeMoulds.com said...

looks lovely..... and I ADORE lychees. They aren't that easy to get here.....

I remember a long time ago trying out grocery shopping online. You could order fruit and vegetables by weight or by quantity. Lychees were available fresh and I decided to stock up.

There was a box for weight and I put in 1kg.

When the order arrived, I hunted high and low and couldn't find the bag of lychees. At the bottom of a shopping bag I found ONE lychee with a sticker on it. I figured the bag must have fallen out in the delivery van and phoned to find out where the rest were.

To my horror, I found out I'd clicked on the per item box rather than the by weight box and they'd only sent me the single lychee I managed to order. Ooops !

ann low said...

Zurin, this is absolutely looks stunning and too pretty to eat. Congratulation your photo is on Tastespotting.

Happy Mother's Day to you!

Xiaolu @ 6 Bittersweets said...

Happy early Mother's Day!! Love the design, color, and flavor of these.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting moulds!looks lovely..... and I ADORE lychees. They aren't that easy to get here.....
send gifts to pakistan

amit said...

Mothers are special. She is the God in Woman! GiftToIndia24x7.com offers you to send gifts to India on Mother's Day. Gifts to India Online - Shop from Exclusive Mothers Day Gifts arranged Specially for Indian Mothers Day.

Unknown said...

What a lovely gift and those molds are so clever!
Send gifts to pakistan

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