Since Christmas, we’ll admit to being rather obsessed with seeing which cocktails would work if they were transformed into jelly. It’s not a novel idea, Bompas & Parr have long been creating complex moulds for Gin & Tonic jellies, glowing them with UV light and creating masterful gastronomic architecture with a playful twist – and of course, we’re all familiar with the rather more student version of jello shots…
Having worked with the Bompas & Parr in the past, and read the jellymongers’ book, we decided to do a few experiments of our own, after all – the basic premise of Sam’s foreword is that everything can be made into jelly and in our head, there’s no better form of flattery than imitation. Over the past few years, we have enjoyed their Gin & Tonic cocktails (although personally, still find the lack of effervescence somewhat strange and off-putting - much like a flat G&T the taste is there but it feels wrong) – their work jellifying various Courvoisier based punches was also interesting.
There is something childish about jelly – in a good way. It’s a food medium that allows for the playful and rewards the curious. As overgrown children ourselves it seemed right to try and build on some of their work and continue the fun we have making cocktails into dinner time…
Lesson one: There’s method in the madness.
Make the cocktail as if you were making it to be drunk there and then. Use ice as you would normally, shake, strain etc.. as per normal. It’s important that the drink tastes the way it should taste before it gets anywhere near gelatin. A bad drink will result in a bad jelly cocktail.
Lesson two: Jellifying makes the drink taste more bitter than it did when in liquid form, so you will need to add either Gomme or sugar syrup.
We recommend adding about 10ml to 30ml of sugar syrup to the mix depending on how much liquid you have. The aim is to get it sweeter than what it is usually and whilst this will throw off the flavours in the drink there and then, once it’s transformation is complete and you pull the jelly out of the mould – it will taste the same as it did before you added the sugar. Strange but true and a really important lesson to remember otherwise everything you create will be dull.
Lesson three: The cocktail you are looking to jellify cannot be 100% alcohol.
It is technically possible to jellify pure booze, but it doesn’t work as well, it’s complicated and requires a few special ingredients. Choose recipes where there are non alcoholic components and the overall ABV will be less than 30%. This results in something tasty, easy to make and great to enjoy. Making pure spirit jelly is a recipe for some really messy hangovers as it’s way too easy to eat too much as you don’t realise how much you are consuming until it’s far too late. Really – it’s not worth it, cocktail jellies are about a bit of fun and trying to get the best tasting cocktails into a desert / meal in a different, playful way. If you do want to know how to make pure gin jellies to do shots, this is the wrong blog to ask – we’ll leave that to the vodka plebs.
Lesson four: How to actually make jelly.
Making a jelly out of cocktail mix is exactly the same as making normal jelly.
IMPORTANT RULE: 100ml of liquid = 1 leaf of gelatine. Use platinum leaf gelatine – the powdered stuff is rubbish. If in doubt, add a little more gelatine into the mix but try not to go over the top.
To make jelly -
Step 1. Choose your mould and calculate how much liquid you will need. Cut up the corresponding amount of gelatine leaf you will need (e.g. 250ml of liquid needs two and a half sheets of gelatine, which by the time it’s all cut up look likes a dozen small bits of transparent sheet).
Step 2. Make your cocktail.
Step 3. Place the gelatine in a heat proof bowl and cover it with some of the cocktail you are about to use. Don’t put the entire cocktail / liquid in there at first – only enough to cover the cut up sheets and leave it for a few mins. This softens the gelatine.
Step 4. Melt the gelatin – Put some hot water into a pan and bring it up to a simmer. Stand the bowl of softened gelatine in the pan so that the water is gently heating up the underneath of the bowl. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved. (it takes about 5 mins). Add the rest of the liquid into the mix. Stir but not for too long – just enough so that it’s all nicely mixed.
Step 5. Pour it into the mould. Put it in the fridge. Don’t tinker about with it for a good 6 hours.
Step 6. Un-mould. Consume.
Lesson five: For advanced jelly makers or those seeking a challenge, consider layering the jelly using two separate ingredients so that it’s more visually striking.
Once you’ve mastered the basic techniques of converting liquid into jelly, have a go at pairing ingredients in separate layers. For example, if you were making a jellied Bramble, how about making the drink and jellying it, then adding a separate layer of blackberry jelly on top of it. The two tiers look and taste fantastic when served on a plate and simply involve a bit of extra preparation. Above is an extreme and looks ridiculous but the principle is there!
To create two (or more) tiers -
Have two jugs of unset jelly ready to be poured into a freezing mould.
Pour some of the contents of one of the jugs into the mould. Place the mould into a refrigerator to allow to set.
Add the other liquid from the other jug into the same mould. Return the mould to refrigerator to allow it to set.
Continue building layers. Thin layers will set in around 15 -20 mins, the thicker ones take longer!
Once the mould is full of tiered jelly, give it a few extra hours in the fridge to allow it all to set properly.
So, after all this – which cocktails work and which Gins to use?
We would recommend using an Old Tom (Hayman’s Old Tom for example) as the naturally sweeter profile lends itself well to the process. Lighter gins like Bombay Sapphire and Hendrick’s Gin also work well as the juniper notes still come though but without the potentially slightly off-putting (in a jelly – not in a gin) piney notes of more punchy London Dry’s. It’s strange to say this as that’s what we enjoy in a gin, but for some reason, these two gins just work for jelly.
The Gin & Tonic is an easy go to cocktail to make, but as we mentioned above it seems to lack what’s good about the drink in the first place. As a drink, it’s refreshing, satisfying and very enjoyable but in jelly form, although it is interesting, it doesn’t really do the real thing justice. Negroni’s are interesting in jelly form too as the medicinal notes seem different when solid, but it falls into similar territory as just not being anywhere near as good as the original as well as the high ABV making it a hit and miss affair when it comes to the quality of moulding and rapid inebriation thereafter.
We feel that Sloe Gin is also real contender for best gin based spirit as the lower ABV makes life easy (no need to change the recipes/ gelatine proportions) and brings with it flavour characteristics of its own.
Here are a few cocktails that work well, of course there are many more!
The Quibble (by Sam Carter)
Sam was kind enough to show us how to make sloe gin and how to make the Quibble, his take on the famous Wibble cocktail made by Dick Bradsell. We’ve made a few since our last encounter with him and prefer serving ours like a Cobbler over rocks (pictured below). For the jelly process however, best stick with his shake and strain version as there needs to be some dilution and doing it that way allows for far more control.
50ml Bombay Sapphire Sloe Gin,
25ml freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
10ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
10ml Crème de Mure
(add 10mls of sugar syrup extra to make it over-sweet for jelly)
Pour into a cocktail shaker with cubed ice and shake well. Fine strain.
Jellify and pour into your mould!
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The English Garden (altered recipe)
50ml Hendrick’s Gin
100ml Pressed Apple Juice
30ml Elderflower liqueur
15ml Freshly squeezed lime juice
(add 10mls of sugar syrup extra to make it over-sweet for jelly)
Jellify and pour into your mould!
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The Tired Bramble
Part one “the heart”
50ml Old Tom Gin
30ml Freshly Squeezed lemon juice
15ml Sugar syrup
15ml Creme de Mure liqueur
(add 10mls of sugar syrup extra to make it over-sweet for jelly)
Pour into mixer, add ice, stir and strain
Part two “the head”
100ml of blackberry juice
Twist of grapefruit juice
(add 10mls of sugar syrup extra to make it over-sweet for jelly)
Jellify and pour into your mould as per instructions above
If you want to go all out. You can create the jelly in a hollowed out grapefruit, and cut it open in front of guests… here’s a little inspiration for you:
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Oh. And don’t let the cat get to it, even if the the wobble is hypnotic.
