Before I shared recipes for Hood’s Wine Jellies Nos. 1 and 2, I searched our recipe index and reviewed the ten wine jellies in our cookbook collection.
That’s right, we have an index. And yes, it is huge, and it is magnificent! Friends exclaim in wonder when they see it, and a mere mention of it shakes our enemies to their sad, gelatin-free cores.
What I found during this search – recipes listed below – is that there are a few must-have ingredients in every excellent wine jelly, but that much of it is left to individual preferences. Like all recipes, really. The must haves are (ideally fresh) lemon juice, sugar, and wine. Optional ingredients include orange juice, spices, and, for a “fancy jelly,” a whole bunch of nuts and fruit.
The choice of wine keeps this recipe modern. In my circle, sherry is not a favorite, while port is drunk only on occasion. The assumption with this recipe is that you are using a bottle from your “cellar” – whether that be a shelf on a closet or something more. The joy of this recipe is that it is easy to make with ingredients that are likely on hand; a popular wine will create a modern taste.
The choice of wine also dictates the amount of sugar. As I mentioned in previous posts, feel free add sugar sparingly and taste liberally as you adjust and perfect the ratio. The sugar should be added last, after the wine and lemon juice, so that you are accounting for every aspect of the flavor profile.
This stunning, crowd-pleasing dessert is simple to make and easy to modify.
I can’t wait for others to try it!
One note of interest: I was curious to find that the recipes for wine jelly didn’t disappear during Prohibition! There are several possible reasons for this. Perhaps it speaks to the wealth of the audience, who may have had large amounts of liquor in storage when the law was passed, or hints of the elevated status of this type of this dessert due to the rarity of its main ingredient. I think that it most likely has to do with the state and cities in which the recipes were printed, as the law was never suitably enforced in, for example, New York City, and to my knowledge, the rest of New York State.
Wine Jelly
Kickapoo Indian Medicine Co.’s The Family Cook Book, c. 1890
One-third box of gelatine dissolved in one cup of cold water, add to it half a lemon sliced, one cup of boiling water, four tablespoons of sugar, and one cup of sherry or port wine; turn into mould and set aside to harden.
Gelatine (Lemon and Wine)
Sloan’s Handy Hints and Up-to-Date Cook Book, 1901
To a box of gelatine put 1 pint of cold water and 2 or 3 lemons cut fine. Let it soak two hours, then add 1 pound of sugar, then pour 1 quart of boiling water over the whole, and 1 pint of wine. Strain through a cloth, set on ice to stiffen.
Wine Jelly
Gold Medal Flour Cook Book, 1910
½ box gelatine
½ cold water
1 pint boiling water
1 cup wine
1 cup sugar
1 lemon
Soak the gelatine in cold water until soft. Add the boiling water, wine, sugar and lemon juice. Strain. Keep on ice until ready to serve.
Wine Dessert
Plymouth Rock Plain Gelatine Recipes, c. 1920
1 Envelope Plymouth Rock Plain Gelatine
½ cup cold water
Juice ½ lemon
½ cup cold water
½ cup wine (sherry)
¾ cup sugar
In a pint measure soak the gelatine in the cold water five minutes. Then add the hot water and stir. When cool, add the wine, lemon juice and sugar. Fill molds and chill until hard.
Wine Jelly
Charles B. Knox Gelatine Co.’s Dainty Desserts for Dainty People, c. 1920
1 envelope Knox Sparkling Gelatine
½ cup cold water
2 cups boiling water
1 cup sugar
1 cup wine
Juice of two lemons
Proceed as in lemon jelly; add the wine and fruit juice when the dissolving sugar has cooled the liquid.
NOTE: A tablespoonful of Angostura Bitters added to the above jellies imparts a fine flavor.
Fruit Molded in Jelly
Charles B. Knox Gelatine Co.’s Dainty Desserts for Dainty People, c. 1920
Make a lemon, orange, or wine jelly with Knox Sparkling Gelatine according to previous direction. Set a plain mold in broken ice and water, and dip thin slices of fruit or almonds and pistachios in liquid jelly and arrange on the bottom and sides of the mold according to some design. Carefully add a spoonful or two of jelly to hold the nuts or fruit in place, then, alternatively, fruit and jelly to fill the mold. Sliced bananas, white grapes skinned and seeded, candied cherries, figs cut in shreds, and orange sections from which the membrane has been removed, either singly or in combination, are good. Serve with whipped cream or thin custard.
Fancy Jelly
Charles B. Knox Gelatine Co.’s Dainty Desserts for Dainty People, c. 1920
Make a lemon or wine jelly; dissolve and color such portion of a package of Knox Sparkling Gelatine as is desired in a tablespoon of water and add to it one-half of the liquid jelly. Pour this into a mold, and when set pour in the untinted part of the jelly, or mold separate in separate molds and cut into cubes to use as garnish in carrying out a pink “color scheme.”
Wine Jelly
Joy of Cooking, 1946
8 Servings
Soak: 2 tablespoons gelatine*
In: ¼ cup cold water
Dissolve it in: ¾ boiling water
Stir in until dissolved: ½ cup or more sugar**
Cool these ingredients. Add:
1 ¾ cups orange juice
6 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup well-flavored wine
If this mixture is not a good color add: a little red coloring
Chill the jelly until it is firm. Serve it with: Cream, whipped cream, or boiled custard.
*These proportions of water, fruit juice and wine may be varied. If the wine is not strong, use less water to dissolve the gelatine and increase the amount of wine accordingly. This makes a soft jelly of a very good consistency to serve in sherbet glasses or from a bowl. If a stiff jelly is desired for molds, increase the gelatine to 3 tablespoonfuls.
**It is difficult to give an accurate sugar measurement. One-half cupful is sufficient if both the oranges and the wine are sweet. Taste the combined ingredients and stir in additional sugar if it is needed.
Don't Break the Mold 