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Give it some jelly

What melts in your mouth, wobbles on the plate and brings back delicious childhood memories? Jelly – that rainbow-coloured, kiddies’ treat. And it’s all set for a grown-up revival for anyone who savours light, simple, silky desserts with strong fruity overtones as an antidote to the comfort puds of winter.

Jellies have been popular since the Middle Ages when pudding delicacies included halved egg shells filled with white almond jelly and a saffron jelly yolk. Aspic jellies or ‘set’ dishes often formed the centrepiece to Elizabethan banquets while whole eggs, fish and meat were suspended in jellies made with almond milk and flavoured with spices, sugar or rosewater. With the introduction of tin-lined copper moulds in the late 18th century it became possible to create even more elaborate jellies with castellated edifices. A magnificent jelly in the form of a white cross on a red background (to represent the Alexandra Cross) was served at the 1863 wedding feast for Prince Edward (later Edward VII) to Princess Alexandra.

Contemporary jellies tend to subscribe to the ‘less is more’ motto: try a few ephemeral slivers of mango and red fruit in a white wine and elderflower jelly or seedless grapes suspended in a jelly of Beaumes de Venise (a sweet white pudding wine). A delicious way to serve jelly in winter is to take a leaf out of Delia Smith’s book (her Winter Collection, to be precise) and knock up a ginger-spiced cranberry and orange jelly. This makes a spectacularly pretty finale.

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