IMBB 15: Almond Jelly

Summer is nearly here. Along with the warm weather and easy laid back lifestyle, there is a preponderance of barbecues, salads and cold light desserts. Often we have fruit salad in light syrup. Occassionally we 'garnish' it with some almond jelly. This is a staple in Chinese restaurants especially popular during dimsums. Very easy to make with few ingredients. I normally use agar-agar for this but since I don't have any I adapted the recipe using unflavoured gelatine powder we get from local supermarkets.

This is my entry to the IMBB 15 whose theme is jelly or gelatine. The honor of hosting this edition lies on the lap of Elise of Simply Recipes. I'm looking forward to seeing the other entries and fattening up my file of recipes to try later. :)

[Update] If you'd like to see the round-up of all the entries to this IMBB edition, please click here. Thanks again to Elise for all the hard work.

Almond Jelly with Fruit Cocktail

3 x 11.7 g  (3 tsp) packets of gelatine powder
1 cup hot water
1 cup water
2 cups milk
3/4 cup caster sugar (superfine)
2 tsp almond essence
can of mixed fruit cocktail in syrup

1. Sprinkle gelatine powder in a bowl with the 1 cup hot water. Stir until all of the gelatine is completely dissolved.
2. Add 1 cup water then cool mixture to room temperature.
3. Stir in milk, almond essence, and sugar. Mix until sugar is completely dissolved.
4. Pour into a wide container or glass baking pan. (I used a glass 13 x 9-inch pan).
5. Cover container and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight.
6. Cut the set gelatine into cubes - about 1/2-inch square.
7. Place in a big bowl and pour the fruit cocktail with the syrup on it. Mix gently and chill some more. Serve in bowls.

*Note: You may use any combination of canned fruits and/or fresh fruits as long as it is in a light syrup. For the first picture above I used a can of peaches in syrup mixed with sliced fresh grapes and strawberries.