Jelly - useful product, which has been at the peak of "delicious" fashion for many years. This cool sweet is loved by both kids and adults.
Great news for those who follow their figure. Jelly contains a minimum of calories! Despite the fact that gelatin itself is quite high-calorie (350 kcal per hundred grams), dishes from it are considered dietary. Since only about 15 g of thickener is needed to prepare a liter of dessert.
In order for the jelly to freeze well and decorate the table, you need to know some basic cooking rules. First you need to properly dilute the product. Most manufacturers indicate all the necessary information on the packaging, but there are some subtleties, without knowing which you can easily spoil the dessert:
- gelatin is desirable to fill with boiled water. After the product "takes" the liquid, it must be stewed over low heat;
- in order not to guess with the consistency, it is important to observe the proportions. If "light" solidification is required, no more than 20 g per liter of liquid should be used;
- if the recipe calls for a dense "marmalade" result, a proportion of 40+ / 1 l will do;
- It is also worth taking care of the "temperature" mode. Do not boil gelatin. After such high temperatures, it will not thicken. The same goes for cold. If you cool the thickener in the freezer, there is a risk of hopelessly spoiling the dish;
- the most important criterion for the preparation of a quality dessert (or jelly and aspic, where gelatin is also used) is its freshness. Before buying, do not be lazy and still look at the date of manufacture. Also take a look at the integrity of the packaging. It is unlikely that anyone will like to find a caked lump in a bag when cooking, instead of a crumbly product.
How to breed gelatin for sweet dishes
A great way to calculate the amount of liquid you need is the formula 1/5. That is, one part gelatin to five parts liquid. You can use water, as well as juices, compotes or wine. The swelling process will take about half an hour.
Swollen gelatin must be dissolved. It is best to use a water bath, which will not allow it to boil.
It is worth mixing the dissolved gelatin with the main mass when both ingredients have approximately the same temperature. This approach will help to avoid lumps in the finished dish.
With soluble gelatin, things are much simpler. Cooking information is usually indicated on the packaging and corresponds to the quality of the product. There are usually given necessary proportions liquids.
Cooking savory dishes does not bear cardinal differences. The only important thing to note: gelatin can be poured into hot broth, and even boiled a little (not for long, otherwise the taste of gelatin will be found in the finished dish).
Making jelly at home
For cooking plain jelly you need water, sugar, gelatin and fruit (or milk) filler. Gelatin is soaked, according to the proportions, and the desired consistency, and after swelling, draining excess water, injected into the hot base, while not stopping stirring.
After dissolving the gelatin, the mass is cooled and poured into molds. The setting time depends on the amount of thickener used.
And in order to release the finished jelly from the molds, you need to lower them into hot water, and then, covering them with a plate, turn them over.
We offer to complicate the task and learn how to make dessert jelly with gelatin at home.
To prepare "juicy" jelly you will need:
- juice - 500 ml (any one will do. But it is worth taking into account that sour juices may “require” more sugar);
- insoluble gelatin - 25 g;
- sugar - 1 tsp
Cooking time - 2 hours 20 minutes.
Calorie content - 45 kcal / 100 g.
Mix gelatin with juice. Leave to swell for about 1 hour. After this time has elapsed, you need to add sugar to the mass and send the container to a slow fire. Stir better not with a metal spoon. As soon as the gelatin and sugar dissolve, stop heating. It is necessary not to let the mass boil.
The next step is pouring into moulds. For decor, you can lay out the bottom of the molds with fruits or berries. They should be washed first, and if necessary, remove the bones. This is important if small children will enjoy dessert.
Pouring future jelly into molds, it must be placed in a cold place to solidify.
If you have to put it in the refrigerator, it is better to cover the forms with cling film so that the smells of other products are not absorbed into the dessert.
After hardening, the dessert can be removed from the molds. It is best to resort to lowering the molds in hot water. But it is important to ensure that splashes do not fall on the finished dish, thereby spoiling its appearance.
It can be served with ice cream, cream or as a standalone dessert.
berry jelly recipe
You will need:
- berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.) - 500 g;
- sugar - 100 g;
- gelatin - 25 g;
- water - 500 ml.
Calorie content - 300 kcal.
First, soak the gelatin in cold water. Leave for one hour.
Peel the berries from the stalks, rinse with running water and leave on a napkin until excess water escapes. Then grind the berries through a sieve, squeeze the juice. Dissolve the swollen gelatin over low heat.
Berry puree should be boiled for several minutes with sugar, until it is completely dissolved. Then cool and add to the berry juice.
Add warm gelatin to the mixture of berry puree and juice, stir until completely combined.
Moisten the molds with water, put a few on the bottom fresh berries, pour the mixture and leave to solidify.
lingonberry jelly recipe
For cooking you will need:
- cranberries - 1 kg;
- sugar - 800 g;
- gelatin - 50 g;
- water - 500 ml.
Cooking time - 2 hours 30 minutes.
The calorie content of one serving is 600 kcal.
Soak gelatin in water and leave to swell for one hour. While the thickener is being prepared, you need to sort out the berries, pour boiling water over them and drain the water, leaving a little at the bottom. Then you need to grind the lingonberries and squeeze through cheesecloth.
In the juice collected from the berries, you need to add sugar and put the container on the fire. Cook until sugar dissolves, stirring. The next step is adding gelatin. It is important to ensure that the mass does not boil for the next few minutes. That's the whole procedure.
Ready jelly needs to be decomposed into jars. By the way, they can not be sterilized. This berry is not prone to fermentation. Turn the rolled jars over, placing them on the lids, and after cooling, store in a cool, dark place.
For lovers of dairy desserts - white jelly
To make it you will need:
- milk - 350 g;
- water - 150 g;
- sugar - 3 tbsp;
- gelatin - 1 tbsp.
Cooking time - 2 hours 30 minutes.
Calorie content - 200 kcal.
Cooking milk jelly start with the preparation of gelatin. Pour it with water and leave for 1 hour. Heat the milk almost to a boil, remove from the stove, pour sugar into it and warm it up a little more. Separate gelatin from the liquid remaining after swelling.
Stirring, add gelatin to pre-chilled milk. For flavor, it is recommended to add vanilla sugar. Jelly must be poured into molds through a strainer.
You can remove the dessert from the containers in the standard way: lower the mold into hot water.
strawberry jelly cake recipe
Jelly is a versatile product. It is tasty enough to serve as a separate dessert, and also goes well in ready meals. It is often used in confectionery especially when baking cakes.
In order for jelly to serve as a great addition to the cake, it must be prepared correctly, following all the rules. If the gelatin is soluble, you can, following the instructions on the package, immediately begin to prepare the mass.
If it is ordinary, first you will need to fill it with water and let it stand for a while. Total thickener will need 10 g. The following is a recipe homemade jelly from gelatin and strawberries for the cake.
So, the gelatin is ready. In addition to it, you will need:
- water - 100 g;
- strawberries - 150 g;
- 3 tbsp sugar.
Cooking time (taking into account the swelling of gelatin) - 2 hours 20 minutes.
Calorie content - 65 kcal.
Grind the berries in a saucepan, adding sugar, then pour in 2 tablespoons of water. Boil everything together for a few minutes. After a little cool, decant the excess liquid and add gelatin to the strawberries.
- if the jelly is supposed to be used as a layer, you need to pour it into the mold and let it harden. Then cut into pieces and put on the cream, then cover with the next cake;
- and if you have to decorate the cake, it should be given special attention. To start, cool to room temperature. Having previously prepared the sides on the cake so that the liquid does not “run away”. Cardboard folded into a ring and stuck into the top cake is best suited for this. You have to pour very carefully. To harden the cake should be placed in a cool place. After the thickener has set, the cardboard edges can be carefully removed.
Notes of confectioners
- if the recipe contains fruit, it is better to add a little more gelatin. Otherwise, the juice that will be given, for example, oranges, may prevent the thickener from seizing. Which will result in a fidgety layer inside the finished dessert;
- you love sweets, but watch your figure, your salvation is jelly. It is non-caloric and healthy. You can also use a substitute instead of sugar, which will further reduce the calorie content of the dessert;
- multi-colored jelly looks very impressive in transparent tall glasses. If you fix the glass in a tilted position before pouring the first layer, you can get an excellent jelly "wrong". And to distinguish between colors, you can use a milky layer as an intermediate layer.
In a word, there is no more "creative" product than gelatin. With it, you can create excellent desserts, as well as beautifully decorate ready-made ones. And the benefits of gelatin in the diet are simply undeniable.
Another recipe for making jelly is in the next video.
Kholodets (jelly, aspic) is a very popular snack, especially on New Year. There are many recipes for this simple but tasty and hearty meal. Aspic is boiled from meat, poultry, fish with various additives: slices of boiled carrots, circles or quarters of boiled eggs. They not only make the dish even tastier, but also decorate it. Properly cooked jelly freezes on its own, without gelatin. However, some chefs, not wanting to take risks, still add gelatin during cooking. How to properly dose this supplement?
Dosing of gelatin for jelly
What is gelatin and how should it be diluted
Gelatin is an organic substance, a product of thermal or chemical processing of collagen (one of the main components of connective tissue). It is a transparent viscous mass, colorless or yellowish. Edible gelatin is obtained from the skins, hooves, bones and tendons of animals, as well as from the bones and scales of fish. On sale it is found in the form of thin plates or in the form of dry granules.
Dilute gelatin according to the standard scheme. First, it is poured with a small amount of water or broth, allowed to swell, then heated until completely dissolved and mixed with additional liquid, bringing to the final volume. After that, the components of the dish are poured with the resulting gelatin solution.
Do not bring gelatin to a boil, otherwise the liquid will not thicken.
In what proportions should gelatin be diluted for jelly
You will need:
- 1 liter of water or stock
- 20-40 grams of gelatin
- cheesecloth or fine sieve
- capacity
- cold meat
- boiled carrots or boiled eggs(optional)
When cooking jelly, you need to dose gelatin, based on which jelly you like best. For example, if you prefer the jellied meat to be rather soft, trembling, like jelly, you need to take about 20 grams of gelatin per 1 liter of liquid. If you want the aspic to be solid, take at least 40 grams per liter of liquid. And if you like very hard aspic, which will have to be cut with a knife, then you need to take about 60 grams of gelatin per liter of water or broth.
The easiest way to prepare a gelling solution for jelly is by following the following scheme. When the meat for the jelly is already cooked, measure the required amount of gelatin (based on the above calculations), pour 1 glass of cold water and leave to swell for 50-60 minutes. During this time, remove the meat from the broth, cut it into small pieces or split it into fibers with a fork and place it in a bowl for future jelly. Strain the broth through cheesecloth or a fine sieve.
Gelatin is often used in cooking when creating various dishes. Experienced cooks dilute it by eye, and a novice cook should take into account the recommended doses.
How to properly dilute gelatin: product doses
Gelatin consists of natural proteins of animal origin, which are obtained by boiling meat and bones. Quite often it is used to create aspic dishes or jelly. In some cases, it is even mixed with jelly so that it can solidify reliably. However, gelatin must be properly diluted, only then will it show its gluing properties.
You can find gelatin in the spice section of any grocery store.
To dilute gelatin you will need:
- boiled water
- gelatin
If you are using gelatin powder sold in bags, you will need to put the entire contents of the bag (20 grams) into a container, then pour it with a glass of cold water and leave it to swell for 40 minutes. Then you will need to mix the gelatin with warm boiled water or liquid, which should be used according to your recipe.
If you need to get jelly that can be cut, you will need to dilute 40-60 grams of gelatin with a liter of hot liquid. If you want to make the so-called floating jelly, 20 grams of gelatin per liter of liquid used will be enough.
To soak the gelatin plates, they will need to be dipped in water for 5-7 minutes, after which the liquid will need to be drained. Assume that one plate contains 2 grams of gelatin. Thus, to obtain a solid jelly, you need to pour 20 plates with a liter of the hot liquid you use.
Gelatin in a water bath
It is much easier to dilute gelatin by boiling it with a water bath.
For this you will need:
- 20 grams of gelatin
- 200 milliliters of water
Take two pots: a small one and a large one, the first one should fit easily into the second one. Pour water into a large saucepan and heat it, then place a small saucepan into it, into which you first need to put the required amount of gelatin and pour it with cold boiled water. During cooking, gelatin must be constantly stirred, only in this way it will be possible to melt it. The maximum temperature to which gelatin can be heated is 80°C.
For a long time I wanted to make material for you on working with gelatin, so as not to describe the same thing in each recipe. Now I will give a link here in the recipes, and those who are still new to working with gelatin will draw something useful and new.
It is important to remember that all gelling agents differ in the result of the texture as well as the technique of use. Therefore, gelatin can never be replaced with agar-agar or pectin, for example. You won't get the same texture, the same mass behavior, and the same result.
Types of gelatin
Gelatin is a protein gelling agent. It is applied in many areas. If we talk about cooking, then this is the production of jelly, confit, mousses, soufflé, marshmallows, ice cream and so on. Let's start with the simplest. Most often, gelatin is sheet and powder.
Leaf gelatin.
Sheet gelatin is much easier to work with, each sheet has an exact weight (usually 2.5 or 5 grams). So you can easily ditch the scales by using scissors to cut off (visually) the right amount of gelatin. The second plus, sheet gelatin can be soaked in any amount of water, and he will take as much as he needs, again we do without weights and unnecessary manipulations. It is usually quicker ready to use than powdered gelatin.
Cons of sheet gelatin - most often it is more expensive than its powder counterpart, it is made from pork or beef.
Powdered gelatin.
It is cheaper, and it also happens to be fish (halal), which expands the audience of consumers of products made from such gelatin. Powdered gelatin should be soaked in water in a ratio of 1:6 (sometimes a 1:5 formula is used). This means that if you need 10 grams of gelatin in a recipe, you will soak it in 60 grams of water.
In all other respects, powdered and sheet gelatin are absolutely identical if they have the same gelling strength.
The power of gelatin
There are several classifications of gelatin in the world. In general, the strength of gelatin is measured in blooms (bloom, in honor of the creator Oscar Bloom). The most common is gelatin with a strength of 125-265 bloom. The greater the strength of gelatin, the more mass it can stabilize.
The second classification is silver, gold, bronze and platinum (this system is used by America, Australia and other countries). Moreover, in these countries, sheets of gelatin weigh differently, so that each sheet stabilizes the same amount of liquid. For example, a Bronze power sheet weighs 3.3 grams, while a Platinum power sheet weighs only 1.7 grams. In this case, both stabilize the same mass. This simplifies the work with recipes, they indicate the number of sheets, and the consumer decides on what strength to take.
Bronze
125-135
Silver
160-170
Gold
190-220
Platinum
235-265
Every time you read a recipe, your task is to find out how strong the gelatin was used by the author. After all, it is obvious that if your gelatin is weaker or stronger, you will not get the intended texture of the dessert, or you may even lose the product if the fillings (components) float.
At the same time, remember that sheet and powder gelatins of the same strength are completely identical in terms of the final result. You can safely replace one type of gelatin with another if you are more comfortable working with them.
On the other hand, there are no rules that would dictate how dense the mass should be in the end - a barely stable gel or hard jelly, similar to marmalade. You decide all this yourself, remembering the use of the product, its shape and type (in tarts you can make the filling softer, and in mousse cake denser).
Preparation of gelatin
Gelatin must first be soaked in cold water. Moreover, the colder it is, the less likely it is that the destruction of the protein in the gelatin will begin, and you will lose some of its strength. It is safest to use ice water or water with ice cubes.
Sheet gelatin is soaked in any amount of water. He will take the right amount. A tall glass or a flat wide container is suitable for this. I recommend soaking sheet gelatin in whole sheets, if you cut the sheet into pieces, some of them may be lost (you just won’t see that the pieces remain at the bottom of the glass).
Sheet gelatin will be ready very quickly and will become soft. It can be used.
Powdered gelatin should take all the water (swell). In this case, you will see that a loose mass remains in the cup with no visible signs of free water. You add this gruel to the mass.
If it turned out that the gelatin is already ready for use, but you are not yet, put it in the refrigerator. Thus, we will stop the heating of water and gelatin will not lose its strength.
Run gelatin
In order to start gelatin, it must be introduced into the mass with a temperature of 50-60 degrees. At this temperature, it will begin to combine with moisture in the mass. This is called to dissolve the gelatin. Masses into which gelatin is introduced cannot be boiled, this will destroy the properties of gelatin and stabilize it (the exception is thermostable gelatin).
To make sure everything is done correctly, bring the mass to the first signs of boiling (small bubbles, foam). Remove the saucepan from the stove. Squeeze out the sheet gelatin (or collect the swollen powder) and fold into the mass. The temperature of such a mass will already drop to 70-75. This is safe for the gelatin and will help it disperse well. Stir the mixture with a spatula. If you are working with more than 500 grams of mass, you can break through the mass with a blender to be sure.
Remember that gelatin begins to stabilize when the temperature drops to 15 degrees. And it takes from 6 to 24 hours for the mass to stabilize completely. That is why products with gelatin are recommended to be prepared in advance.
Gelatin is reversible, which means that if the thickened mass is heated to 50 degrees, it will become liquid again.
Friends and Enemies of Gelatin
In stabilizing the masses, gelatin can be helped and hindered by certain ingredients. This means that you need to be more careful with these ingredients or take into account their ability to help / interfere with gelatin.
Friends of gelatin
Sugar, alcohol (up to 40%), milk
Enemies of gelatin
Tropical acids (kiwi, pineapple, papaya - their enzymes break down gelatin), strong acids (Ph above 4, such as wine), salt
Gelatin mass
In many modern confectioneries, another type of gelatin is used - gelatin mass.
Gelatin mass is pre-stabilized gelatin with water. The idea is that you soak powdered gelatin in ice water (1:6). And we are waiting for the mass to swell. Then we heat the mass in microwave oven. In small pulses of 10-15 seconds, until the mass becomes homogeneously liquid. We remove the workpiece in the refrigerator for a day. The next day we get a gelatinous mass - elastic and transparent.
Next, you simply cut off the amount of gelatinous mass you need and dissolve it in the hot mass (or heat it again in the microwave to a liquid state and introduce, for example, whipped cream into the cold mass).
The advantage of the gelatin mass is that we get the finished stabilizer faster - there is no need to soak the gelatin and wait for it to swell. The only subtlety, recalculation of the masses according to the recipe. For example, if a recipe calls for 10 grams of gelatin, you would use 70 grams of gelatin mass (10 grams of gelatin + 6 parts water). You can store the gelatin mass for up to a week in the refrigerator.
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Without it, it is very difficult to cook many dishes: jelly, jelly, cream. Have you guessed what we are? Of course, about gelatin!
Gelatin
Gelatin is a transparent viscous liquid that has no color, no smell, no taste.
It is produced by denaturing the fibrillar protein collagen contained in fish bones and scales, but the main raw materials for its production are still the connective tissues of bones, skins, ligaments and tendons of cattle.
It is thanks to collagen that gelatin has a gelling property and is an indispensable ingredient in many culinary recipes.
Breeding rules
The most optimal way to dilute powdered gelatin is to dissolve it cold, since when it is added directly to broth, milk or juice, complete dissolution of gelatin granules cannot be achieved, despite any tricks.
After pouring 1 gelatin on the bottom of a small metal bowl, fill it with 100 ml of cold boiled water. Leave regular gelatin to swell for 50 minutes, for instant gelatin, this time can be safely halved - up to 25 minutes.
After the specified time has elapsed, place the bowl of gelatin over a saucepan of simmering water. Keeping the bowl in a water bath, periodically stir its contents.
After about 10 minutes, the gelatin will completely dissolve in the water. This will be confirmed by the state of absolute transparency of the liquid.
Be careful! Do not bring gelatin to a boil, because at a temperature of 100 0 C, collagen protein is destroyed, therefore gelatin will completely and irrevocably lose its gelling properties.
If boiling nevertheless happened, without a drop of regret, pour the boiled liquid into and start cooking it from the very beginning.
After the gelatin is completely dissolved in water, cool it to 50-60 0 C and only then add it to the dish being prepared.
Before this, do not forget to pass the cooked gelatin through a sieve to get rid of the film on its surface formed during the heating process.
When protecting diluted gelatin from boiling, be aware that he "does not like" low temperatures. Don't put it in freezer, since when it freezes, it will crystallize and delaminate, and after thawing, gelatin will lose its gelling properties.
Proportions
More accurate information about the ratio in which gelatin should be dissolved is contained on its packaging and in recipes for specific dishes, but we will limit ourselves to describing the general proportions and the viscosity of finished culinary masterpieces associated with them.
The effect of trembling jelly will give the dissolution of 20 g of gelatin in 1 liter of liquid. This ratio of ingredients is optimal for delicate aspic and dairy desserts.
When dissolved in the same amount of liquid 40 g of gelatin finished product will be tighter. Recommended for chicken, jellies from the tongue and fish, fruit jelly.
For the preparation of beef and pork jelly, fruit and berry pies or decorations for cakes and pastries, the amount of gelatin in 1 liter of water must be increased to 60 g.
Know that dishes prepared using gelatin are not only tasty, but also healthy!
Enjoy your meal!
