Cathedral Windows

One of the winners in the Christmas new recipe experimentations of my family is this great looking and even better tasting Cathedral Windows. I have to thank wholeheartedly Corinne of the excellent Heart of Mary food blog from where I adapted this recipe. Thank you very much Corinne for sharing your family's best ever recipe. We are indebted to you and your aunts for this wonderful refreshing dessert.

This festive dessert I could imagine more in summer feasts because it's quite refreshing in the palate despite the richness of the white binding jelly. Although, this would not go amiss as a foil to all the richness of Christmas season food.

I thought I could get away with using her exact recipe but I couldn't find any thickened cream (Nestle) that is quite common in the Philippines. Good thing I read the voluminous comments of that blog to find that I can use regular double cream (heavy cream) but had to increase the gelatine in the binder. With the first make under my belt, I could see that two jelly moulds could be used in this recipe because I didn't use up all the coloured jellies. So I'll do that next time.

As you can see, I made a mistake in unmoulding the whole thing. It won't come out readily so I immersed the bottom in a bowl full of warm water for, I thought, a few seconds. But it seems I dipped it too long. The top melted and wasn't the ridged smooth gelatine I was expecting. But, nevermind, the taste more than made up for the botched unmoulding. Corinne was right in claiming that it is delicious - it was so yummy. And when I cut it to reveal the inside - wow! To see those colourful jellies floating in white was really really satisfying.

Happy New Year everyone !!


Cathedral Windows

*For coloured jellies:
5 different flavoured and coloured unset jellies*
1 cup boiling water (x5)
1 cup cold tap water (x5)
1 Tbsp sugar (x5)
1 Tbsp unflavoured gelatine powder (x5)

*For binder jelly:
3 Tbsp unflavoured gelatine powder
2 cups apple juice
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup double cream (heavy cream)


For the coloured jellies:

1. Mix the coloured jelly with 1 cup of boiling water, 1 Tbsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp unflavoured jelly powder.
2. Stir from time to time until everything is dissolved.
3. Add in 1 cup of cold tap water.
4. Pour into a moulding container (plastic, glass, or ceramic; preferably rectangular or square) and chill in the fridge overnight.
5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 for the rest of the coloured jellies.

For the binder jelly:

1. Heat the apple juice until very hot but not boiling.
2. Add the unflavoured gelatine, remove from heat and stir until completely dissolved.
3. In another saucepan, combine the egg yolks, sugar, and lemon juice.
4. Cook over low heat while stirring until the mixture is thickened.
5. Pour in the apple mixture and remove from fire. Stir to mix.
6. Add the evaporated milk and double cream to the mixture and stir to mix.

To assemble:

1. Before cooking the binder jelly, cut up the different coloured jellies into about 3/4 - 1 inch cubes. Put in a heat resistant bowl.
2. Wash the final presentation jelly mould with water. Drain water from the inside but do not wipe dry. This is to make the unmoulding of the jelly easier.
3. Make the binder jelly and while it is still liquid (it sets quickly!) pour it over and combine with the cut-up jellies.
4. Carefully pour in the jelly mould. Cover and chill in the fridge overnight or until completely set.

*Notes:

• I used the locally available Hartley's jelly in lime, lemon, orange, blackcurrant, and strawberry flavours.
• I actually combined the coloured jellies and binder in the jelly mould itself. I just carefully mixed them with a spoon and distributed the coloured jellies evenly.
• I didn't have one of those nice Tupperware jelly moulds so I just used my regular bundt pan that I use for baking and it wasn't too bad.