Thursday 21 April 2011

Moe hee toes

Well, I could wait no longer, so had to pop out some of these babies!


I have discovered through trial and error that the best way to free these chappies is to run a sharp knife just inside the rim, then lay the tray in a swiss roll tin of warmish water.  The key is to use the knife on all of them, but just the shortest time in the pan, pop out a fw, then lay back in the pan for a moment or two then pop out some more... more patience is required for photo perfect jellies, but I think you'll agree that for home use, these will do!

I'm fairly certain that for a virgin style of these you could substitute the rum for water and add a few drops of flavouring (though not too much as you don't want to really taste the rum, alcohol or not)




Mojito Jelly

2 cup water (1 cold, 1 fresh from kettle)
1½ cup sugar
1½ cup white rum
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1 lemon
handful of mint (leaves and stalks -you're going to strain it!)
2 sachets of gelatin powder (or any equivalent of agar agar, or vegegel, or gelatin leaves )

I'm going to blab about gelatin first.  I haven't experimented yet with agar agar, but when I do, you will be the first to know!  I have the strands, not the powder. I use Dr Oetker's (you know they used to be supercook!) bog standard gelatin sachets, I also have the leaves, not tried them yet either.  I think that like me, you will have to trial and error in your own kitchen, but be aware if it doesn't set, you can boil the kettle, mix up 100ml water with a sachet of gelatin, fully dissolve it, and then add your original non-setting mix to it and you will have rescued it!)

Also the more strong a proof your alcohol is, the more water:gelatin ratio you will need to fiddle with. But you knew that was going to be the case, right? ;D


Back to the recipe.  Boil 1(cold) cup of water with the cup and a half of sugar, allow to reduce by half. remove from heat and add chopped mint, lime juice, lemon juice and white rum and mix well. You can leave this to infuse if you like, up to 15 mins, depending on how minty you want the taste!

In a heat proof jug or bowl, mix the hot, freshly boiled water with the gelatin as per the manufacturer's instructions.  mix with a fork continuously until it is all dissolved (a few grains won't make a huge difference, but preferably all dissolved).

Using a sieve, strain the other minty liquid into the jug and mix thoroughly. You can now pour it into your prepared moulds.  You can use any moulds you like, I spray my ice cube trays with Lakeland's bake release then swipe it around each with some kitchen roll, to absorb the excess. You can put it in a loaf tin, where the weight of the jelly will allow inertia and gravity to take it's course when turning out! (I've read that agar agar hates grease of any kind though)

Preferably chill in the fridge, flat, for a few hours, possibly overnight!

When serving, you can take a sharp knife around the edge of your mould and sit the tray in a baking tray half filled with warm tap water.  I'd recommend a dip, then turn out a few, then a dip again, rather than sitting it in the water for more than a few minutes.  You can firm it back up in the fridge though, if it gets too soft!



I just laid an extra mint leaf on top for presentation but you could sprinkle it with chopped mint, or the finely grated zest of lemon and lime (or mebbe just a fine shred of the lime peel?  Go wild!)


A jelly shot is absorbed less quickly than an alcohol shot, so even seasoned party hearty drinkers will have it hit them hard if you consume too many! (you can dliute it further with water if required, and these are teeny little shots as a taster)

Please drink and chew responsibly, I'd hate to be cited for the damage to your liver ;) Chin Chin! xx

4 comments:

  1. Wow, they look amazing! :)
    Ashley x

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  2. Thanks, as a first attempt I was rather chuffed :D

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  3. They are wonderful!
    really really really amazing!
    x

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  4. cheers Nicola, I had a feeling that you'd like the dinky bite size jellies ... I fancy cake pops too :) oooh weddingy cake pops!?

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