Get Your Jelly On – Day 27: Jewels

mycookinghut October 27, 2011

After 2 attempts of molecular cooking, here and here, my 3rd attempt was a simple spherification – jewels/salmon roe look-alike. I have decided to name it jewels as they look like tiny little jewels at the bottom of the jelly that give orange hue. Spherification could be tricky not just because there is chemistry involved, but the technique has become associated with the most farcical extremes of modernist cooking.

I have really made full use of my starter kit, for the Royal Selangor – Get Your Jelly On– 30-day Challenge. The little orange jewels are made with orange juice, whereas the transparent layer of jelly is simply lemon syrup. A citrusy jelly that is really refreshing.

I found a video on You Tube that demonstrates how to achieve this type of spherification. I hope it is going to be help if you want to get your hands on molecular cooking!

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Jewels

Yield: 2 persons

Ingredients:

For the ‘Jewels’:
5 tsp Calcic
130ml cold water
2 tsp Algin
100ml thick orange juice
2-3 drops red colouring

For the lemon syrup:
250ml water
3 tbsp sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2g agar agar powder

Method:

1. To make the ‘jewels’, add Calcic to the water, whisk until dissolves. Then, in a separate bowl, add Algin to the orange juice, whisk until dissolves. Prepare a big bowl of water by the side. Use a pipet, drop the mixture into the Calcic bath one drop at a time. Hold the pipet parallel to the counter and about 3cm above the surface of the water. Drop 20-30 drops at a time, stirring the water occasionally. Remove using the slotted spoon, drain on a kitchen paper then and set aside on a plate.

2. To make the lemon syrup, bring the water to the boil, add the sugar and lemon juice, stir until dissolved. Then, add the agar agar powder, stir to combine. Pour into the jelly mould until 3/4 full. Then, add the ‘jewels’ about 3-4 tbsp. Top the mould with lemon syrup until full. Chill to set.