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JELLY RECIPES

Recipes by Sarah Seahorse

Images by Theresa Harrison

Posted 13th September 2020

What better way to entomb your absolute adoration for your crush, your date, your babe, your bestie, or your fave person than leaving a strange and beautiful jelly on their doorstep for them to find. Enchant their day!


Jellies are oh-so fashionable right now! Glistening, captivating, wobbly, tactile treats. They can be layered up with different colours and flavours and you can encapsulate beautiful objects and ephemera within their sculptural, silky smooth depths.

Creating layered, decorative jellies is a super-fun interactive activity to do at home. They make an impressive dinner or dessert to wow your family or your housemates, and are a perfect gift to leave on your beloved’s doorstep!

These recipes use agar as the setting agent — vegan gelling agent derived from the cell walls of red algae. It is really high in fibre. It creates a firmer, crisper jelly than gelatine or carrageenan.


The below recipes serve as a guide only! Experiment with all sorts of flavour combos! Literally use whatever you have lying around your house — fruit juice, fresh fruit that needs juicing, tinned fruit juice, cordial, your fave tea (maybe earl grey with milk and honey, or a delicious honey-sweetened jasmine green tea), sweet milk, choccy milk ... The flavour combos are endless and fun to play around with.




RECIPE 1

Romo-Homo-Jell-o

Jellies are ethereal and luminous worlds, ripe to envelop a beautiful rose, perhaps some new fancy undies (or maybe a pair of your own), and a sweet secret note declaring why you are so stoked to have them in your life.


Romo letter suggestions:

  • Why this person makes you feel super special

  • Things that they are really great at

  • Talents that they have

  • Favourite memories you share

  • Favourite things to do together

  • Things that you admire or adore about them

  • A poem

  • Things they make you feel

  • A jelly (or jelly contents) analogy — for example, ‘I feel all wobbly like jelly when you’re around’

  • Some great ways that they are being a flippin’ trooper through lockdown

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups clear cordial
    (for my jelly I used homemade elderflower cordial, but any clear cordial will do the trick!)
  • 4 Cups juice
    (I happened to have loads of mandarins coz they are in season right now, so I juiced a whole bunch to create the vibrant orange-coloured juice layer)
  • 2 cups coconut milk
    (Aroy D Thai coco milk is my fav as it’s naturally sweet and rich)
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste
  • 1 tablespoon of sweetener
  • 8 teaspoons of agar gar powder
  • 1 perfect rose
    the more scented the better. This gives you a nice reason to go roam the neighbourhood seeking out spring roses
  • Optional gift
    Undies seem to work really well and add a lovely colourful and texturally interesting layer
  • Optional sweet romo letter
    see suggestions above
  • Vessel to set your jelly in
    Vessel to set your jelly in: If you don’t have a cute jelly mould you can use a nice deep glass bowl, a pot, a cake tin anything that has a cool shape really! As long as it is wider at the top than bottom to ensure it will pop out.

Steps:

  1. Place 4 cups of cordial in a pot, sprinkle on 3 teaspoons of agar and stir to dissolve. Place on heat and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring for a few minutes till agar has dissolved.
  2. Pour half of this mixture into the jelly vessel, and allow to cool down out of the fridge till slightly thickened, but not set.
  3. Plunge your beautiful rose into the jelly, submerging it under the thickened agar. You could also add other beautiful flowers or decorative fresh fruit, such as raspberries or slices of orange, into this layer in a pleasing arrangement.
  4. Pop your rosy layer in the fridge for 5–10 minutes to set.
  5. Gently reheat the other half of the clear jelly mixture until slightly warm and pour onto your first rose layer. Add the cute knickers and arrange to create some luscious textural layers.
  6. Roll your love letter into a tight lil scroll, pop it inside a small plastic bag and tape it shut so it’s watertight! Place this on top of the undies. Pop your jelly back into the fridge to set for 5–10 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile, juice enough mandarins (or whatever juice you’re using) to create 4 cups of juice. Place in a pot, sprinkle on 3 teaspoons of agar powder, stir to dissolve, then slowly bring to a gentle simmer. Simmer while stirring for a few minutes till agar is incorporated. Allow to cool till warm, not boiling hot, and pour over the previous panty layer. Put this in the fridge to set.
  8. The final layer!! I really love the way the creamy coconut layer makes the other colours pop. Gently heat the 2 cups of coconut milk, 1 cup of water, vanilla, sweetener, and 2 teaspoons of agar powder. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring gently. Try not to boil as the coconut milk may separate! Pour onto the previous juice layer. Chuck a lil final spell upon the jelly — a well wish; a beautiful, caring intention for your beloved. Put the jelly back into the fridge to set.
  9. Ta-dah — she’s ready! Go and sneaky-squirrel this pretty baby to your special person’s doorstep. Invert onto a plate. Leave the vessel on top to ensure it’s safe from any jelly-hungry critters. And wait for your crush to find this ultimate edible lockdown marvel treat!!!

Agar tips:


Agar is awesome and user friendly in that it sets at room temperature, and doesn’t necessarily need to be set in the fridge unless you want to speed up the process. Make sure you pour hot/warm agar onto the set previous layer to ensure that the layers adhere to each other.

If your juice is particularly acidic — for example, pineapple juice, sour orange juice, strawberry juice, etc. — you may need to add extra agar to ensure it sets.

If you’re not sure if you’ve added enough agar, or if you’re afraid the jelly won’t set, I recommend adding a small amount to a tiny bowl and placing in the fridge for 10 minutes as a little test run.




RECIPE 2

Tom-Kha Savoury Stash Jelly

Aesthetically reminiscent of the height of 1970s kitsch culinary aspic fashions ... Mmm, savoury jellies. There are so many ways to experiment with savoury flavours. Maybe gazpacho. Or cucumber, lime n coriander with fresh corn ...

This jelly is the perfect refreshing meal on a hot summer’s day — it’s texturally intriguing and nice to look at. It’s also a great way to get super creative with the sculptural combinations of colourful layers of vegetables and herbs.

Oh, and yes ... This is a wonderful jelly to hide fun things inside: survival supplies, someone’s returned keys, a time capsule, a gift, maybe some jewellery, or sneaky secret contraband items? Fun to find! Maybe the findee will even make a wish? I chose to place a tiny flask of fancy delicious tequila inside this jelly for the lucky recipient to find as a thrilling iso treat. Unfortunately, they never got thru the entire jelly and the sneaky gift was lost forever :p

Ingredients:

  • 1 litre of coconut water
  • 4 lime leaves
  • 1⁄2 a teaspoon of sea salt
  • Some carrot slices, fresh baby corn, Thai basil, coriander, spring onions, and cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tin of whole water chestnuts
  • Some enoki mushrooms
  • Some garlic
  • Vegan tom yum paste
  • Coconut milk (Aroy D Thai coconut milk is my fave as it’s naturally sweet and rich)
  • 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
  • A good crackin’ of cracked pepper
  • 9 teaspoons of agar powder

Steps:

  1. Firstly, Prepare the vegetables. Finely slice the carrot into ovals. Slice the spring onion tops into nice rounds. Pluck the Thai basil into single leaves. Slice cherry tomatoes into halves. Drain the tin of water chestnuts.
  2. Blanche the fresh baby corn.
  3. Fry the enoki mushrooms with garlic till soft.
  4. Prepare the first clear layer. Pour the litre of coconut water into a pan. Add salt and crushed lime leaves and sprinkle 3 teaspoons of agar on top. Stir till dissolved and bring to a simmer for 2–3 minutes till bubbling.
  5. Pour half the coconut water mix into your mould, removing the lime leaves. Allow to cool till slightly thick. Arrange the vegetables inside in fancy combinations. I started with carrot and spring onions. Lay the Thai basil leaves flat upon the top, slightly curling up the sides of the vessel. Pop into the fridge to set for 10–15 minutes.
  6. Pour the next half of the coconut water concoction onto the set layer. If it’s started to set, place on heat for a few moments to soften. Arrange the water chestnuts and cherry tomatoes next. Be creative. Make art. Make it look cool n colourful.
  7. The next layer. Yum. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of tom yum paste into 4 cups of water, stir in 3 teaspoons of agar and bring to a gentle boil. Simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly.
  8. Place the enoki mushrooms on top of the veggie coconut water layer. The mushrooms create a lovely noodle-y texture. Pour on the tom yum soup layer. Now is a great time to stash your secret stash item/s. Place in fridge to set.
  9. Finally, place 2 cups of coconut milk, 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon of tom yum paste, 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder, a good grind of cracked pepper, and 3 tablespoons of agar powder. Stir till combined. Bring to a very gentle simmering boil. Boil for 2–3 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour upon the previous layer. Allow to set in fridge.
  10. TA-DAH! Your kitsch savoury stash art jelly is complete. Some people love it. Some people hate it. It’ll give people lots to talk about. A very interactive meal. Best eaten on a 40-degree day.



Recipes by Sarah Seahorse

Images by Theresa Harrison

Sarah Seahorse is our neon-saturated award winning wearable artist, costume designer, craftivist and trash troll- specialising in wearable art that creates strong social, environmental and political commentary. A self-proclaimed kitchen-top with a fiercely heightened palette for flavours, a profound obsession with textures & a love of food related ASMR. Seahorse delights in creating niche food related art and wearables, and has most recently been playing with the sculptural and ethereal world of jelly.

Sarah's Website



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