Wine Jelly

Try this Wine Jelly recipe, or post your own recipe for Wine Jelly

tell us

Be the first to submit a photo for this recipe. Win $100.00 by posting the best original food photo this month!

Recipe look good to you?

Wine Jelly Ingredients

2 pk Unflavored gelatine	1/2 c Sugar
1/4 c Water; room temperature	1 c Orange juice
1/2 c Boiling water	1/4 c Lemon juice
1/2 c Boiling orange juice	1 1/4 c Cold wine

Instructions for Wine Jelly

THERES ALWAYS ROOM FOR... Somewhere around a decade and a half ago, at a small dinner party in Staunton, Virginia, Vickie Powers served a dessert that knocked everybody out. She served it in a tall champagne flute and, at first, we thought it was a drink. It was a slightly cloudy pink, the color of a light rosi wine, with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream on top although people initially thought that the cream was foam. A single perfect grape, suspended a half-inch above the bottom in each flute, was the only clue to what it may have been. It was "rosi wine jelly" and consisted of the wine, a little sugar, a squeeze of orange juice, a dash of lemon juice and some gelatine. Vickies husband, Tom, said it was her little secret recipe that never failed to get raves. She said it had been in her family for years and shed read somewhere that it had been a favorite in Victorian England. After she made me go through some serious whining and grovelling, she gave me the recipe. I asked her what she called it. "Wine jelly," she said. "Not dramatic enough," I said. Since it was from Queen Victorias reign and was Vickie Powers secret recipe, we called it "Victorias Secret." Some of you are smirking. It seems that my education was incomplete. After wed been serving Victorias Secret for a couple years, one day there appeared in our mail a catalog for a company called Victorias Secret. It featured lots of near-naked women modelling lots of virtually invisible underthings. Except for the ones intended to be seen, and they screamed tiger stripes or incomprehensible straps and buttons or else frothed with great billows of transparent lace or mesh. Hey, all I was trying to do was make our version of homemade Jello for grown-ups. Next thing you know, were up to our you know what in underwear; so to speak. Whew. We left it on the menu but sales pretty abruptly fell off. The servers were suddenly self-conscious about inviting people to try the dessert. We changed the name to "Victorian Wine Jelly" and it became popular all over again. Whats in a name, indeed. A rosi by any other name would taste as sweet. Begging yer pardon, Mr. Shakespeare. Heres the recipe for the wine jelly; then well look at variations. Note that water and orange juice are divided. Method: Soak gelatine in cool water for 2 or 3 minutes. Add the boiling water and stir to dissolve completely. Add remaining ingredients, mix well and pour into glasses. Chill until firm. Serve with a small dab of whipped cream. Variations: To garnish with a grape, pour about an inch of the gelatine mixture into the bottom of the glass and chill until very syrupy. Gently sink a chilled grape into the gel and fill the glass the rest of the way. To have a clearer gel, substitute water for the orange juice and add 4 teaspoons orange extract to the boiling water. Same for the lemon juice but use one-half teaspoon lemon extract. Use a sweet white zinfandel instead of a rosi. To make layers, pour some into a glass and chill solid. Add the next layer and repeat. It takes time but it certainly isnt hard work. To get interesting effects, tilt the glasses so the layers form diagonal patterns. Or put fruit into every other layer. Or put plastic wrap tightly over the end of the glass and lay it down flat and chill it solid. Add the other color(s) and serve. People will wonder. Posted to FOODWINE Digest by Bob Pastorio on Jan 1, 1998

Main Ingredient: Cuisine: Uncategorized