Setting Up with Unflavored Gelatin

I wanted to talk a little bit about using unflavored or plain gelatin in molded desserts.   How many of you have tried to make a dessert using gelatin and were thoroughly disappointed with the outcome?  You ended up with a bowl of soup rather than a jellied dessert.  I would first like to share with you what exactly plain gelatin is, and all of the different ways it can be used.

Unflavored gelatin is an odorless, colorless and tasteless protein (about 85% to be exact) used as a thickening agent.  It can be used for jelling molded desserts or salads and thickening soups or pies.   Gelatin is derived from the bones and connective tissues from animals.  Most commercial gelatin today is a by-product of pig skin.   This explains why my daughter’s vegan friend would never eat any Jell-O when I served it to her!  Other alternative thickening agents for vegans would be carrageen or agar, which are derived from seaweed.   Pectin is acceptable as it is derived naturally from fruits and veggies.

In order for gelatin to set up it needs to first be dissolved in cold water, slightly heated and then chilled.  How hard can that be?  If you don’t follow all of these steps you will be disappointed.  The biggest mistake made is letting the liquid come to a boil or get too hot.  Once gelatin starts to boil it will begin to lose its thickening properties.  Another reason for failure could be from using too much sugar in the recipe.  This can cause the gelatin to stay too soft and not properly set up.

To use, lightly sprinkle one packet of dry gelatin over ¼ cup of cold water in a saucepan and let it soften for 5 minutes.  You want to carefully sprinkle the gelatin so as not to form any clumps.  This step helps the gelatin to swell up which makes it easier to dissolve.  Heat slowly on medium low heat and stir until dissolved and the liquid looks clear.  Do not let the mixture boil!  Test the temperature with your finger to make sure it does not get too hot.  The gelatin is now ready to use in your recipe.    One ¼ ounce packet will jell about 2 cups of liquid. 

The chilling time for 2 cups of liquid is about two hours.  When doubling a recipe use only 3 ¾ cups of liquid.  To maintain the gelatinous state always keep your jellied dessert in the refrigerator.  To keep it from forming a rubbery skin on top, cover it tightly with a lid or plastic wrap.

One thing you should know about adding fruit to your molded dessert is that some tropical fruits like fresh pineapple, papaya, fresh figs, kiwi and even gingerroot contain an enzyme called bromelain which can break down the thickening properties of gelatin.   When these tropical fruits are cooked, the enzyme is deactivated.  So using canned pineapple for example would be okay. 

 If you are using a mold to form your dessert, first spray it with cooking spray before filling to help the dessert release easily.   Another way to release it is to dip the chilled mold into a bowl of warm water for 10 seconds or so, loosen the edges with a knife, then unmold onto a serving dish.  Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.   

I hope this information about unflavored gelatin is helpful to you.  You can learn more about gelatin at homecooking.about.com

Happy Baking,

Pam