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Dessert

Constantia Jelly

A gelatinous dessert made by dissolving isinglass in water, sweetened with sugar, flavored with orange rind, and set with Constantia wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Constantia Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jelly

  1. Dissolve the isinglass in 1 pint of water over low heat.

  2. Add 4 ounces of sugar and the thinly pared Seville orange rind.

  3. Stir well.

  4. Simmer the mixture for 5 to 7 minutes.

  5. Mix in the Constantia.

Strain and set

  1. Strain the jelly through a fine cloth.

  2. Let it settle and cool.

  3. Pour gently into a mould that has been soaked in water for 1 to 2 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Gelatinous setting agent that firms the liquid into a clear jelly as it cools.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the tartness of the wine and orange.
Constantia
Provides the wine flavour and aroma that defines the jelly.

The step that matters

Pour gently into the soaked mould. Pouring gently keeps the cooled jelly clear and avoids trapping air bubbles. Wetting the mould first helps the set jelly release cleanly when turned out.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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