Jelly hearts for Valentine's Day

Press, 10 February 1988, Page 17

Jelly hearts for Valentine's Day

Alison Holst’s

Food Facts

Who makes the treats and surprises in your house? Perhaps because I’ve never been very good at keeping secrets, most of the surprises that came out of our kitchen were plotted and planned with, rather than for my children, and were made as a combined effort.

I must say that I have always enjoyed celebrating special occasions by making something which is “out of the ordinary” in my kitchen, and I feel happy when I see my daughter making the time, in her busy life, to carry on the same traditions, helped enthusiastically by her three-year-old daughter.

Surprises to celebrate different festivals don’t have to be elaborate or expensive to be remembered with pleasure. If you have preschoolers in your kitchen, you may like to let them help you to make “finger jelly” hearts for Valentine’s Day. They don’t take long, and the children seem to like the

novelty of making a jelly which is firm enough to pick up in their fingers. If you have older children who want to take the jelly hearts to school to give to their friends, it would probably be wise to suggest that they are distributed, and eaten, early in the day, since this jelly, even though set quite firmly, may not stay this way if left sitting around in the sun on a hot summer day, either in a school bag, or in a pocket! To make the “finger jelly” heart shapes, you will need a heart-shaped cutter. These are not hard to find in kitchen hard-

ware departments, or kitchen speciality stores. The collection of cutters I started more than twenty years ago, has given us enormous pleasure, and has kept us happily occupied for hours at a time! It isn’t really possible to tell you how many hearts this mixture will make. It depends, first of all, on the size of the tin in which you set your jelly, second on the size of your cutter, and third on the enthusiasm with which you and your helpers eat the scrappy bits of jelly between the hearts.

If you all have lots of self-discipline, you can

put the scraps back in a container which can be heated, so that the jelly can be remelted, reset, and cut into more shapes. I think, however, that this is asking the impossible! Don’t discard this recipe just because you have no cutters. At some other time when you want to make a child’s treat, just set the jelly in a square, 16 to 18 cm container, and cut it into 2 to 3 cm squares. These wobble very satisfyingly, and taste just as good as any elaborate shapes. And of course, you can make them with any coloured jelly you like. If you cut the squares a little bigger, and make sure that they are deep enough, you could put a candle into each one and supply each pre-schooler in your child’s group with a jelly birthday “cake.” Sit each one on a colour co-ordinated folded paper serviette or a small doiley, and you will have made quite a work of art! 1 packet of red jelly

crystals 2 teaspoons gelatine 2 tablespoons cold water 2 tablespoon sugar (optional) 1 cup boiling water First of all, check to make sure you have any flavour of red jelly crystals in your store-cup-board. (You can add red food colouring to yellow or orange jelly, if you like, but it won’t be quite as good). Measure the gelatine into a microwave-proof bowl or 2-cup measure, or into a small saucepan. Add the cold water and leave it to stand until the gelatine swells. Then measure the jelly crystals and sugar on top of it, add the boiling water and stir well. You may find that everything dis-

solves, but you will probably need to heat it a little more. I microwave it for 2 minutes on full power. Pour the jelly into a suitable cake tin, about 20 cm. If you are going to cut large hearts, use a round tin, and cut the hearts from around the edge, with the pointed end innermost. Stand the tin in a sink of cold water until it cools, then sit it on a cold, flat surface in the coldest part of your refrigerator. In my refrigerator this will set firm enough to cut in half an hour, but this time will vary. You may find that you can set the jelly in 10 minutes if you stand it in iced water. If you are working with very young children, leave it a little

longer, so it will be firmer. For easiest handling, dip the tin briefly into warm water, then slide, lift, or invert the jelly onto a smooth wet surface. If you think that this sounds messy, and you have used a very shallow tin, try cutting directly from the tin. Find the way that suits you best, by trial and error. If you are cutting jelly shapes with an elaborate cutter, dip it in hot water between cuts. This should not be necessary with a simple, heart-shaped cutter, however. Use straight away, or refrigerate until needed. This jelly is solid enough to be left in a warm room for some hours, but it may not survive direct, hot sunshine for long. Do not be tempted to coat the shapes with castor sugar. It dissolves into a messy liquid.