This kind of dessert was first recorded as jelly by Hannah Glasse in her 18th-century book The Art of Cookery, appearing in a layer of trifle. Jelly is also featured in the best selling cookbooks of English food writers Eliza Acton and Isabella Beeton in the 19th century.
Jelly comes from the Old French gelee, "jelly" and also "frost," from the verb geler, "to congeal," with its Latin root gelare, "to freeze."
The juices of most fruits and berries and many vegetables are suitable for processing into jelly. The primary ingredient in dessert jelly is gelatin. Gelatin is a product made by cooking collagen. It is made almost entirely of protein, and its unique amino acid profile gives it many health benefits. Gelatin is made from animal collagen — a protein that makes up connective tissues, such as skin, tendons, ligaments, and bones.
Collagen can be extracted from these parts by boiling them in water. People often do this when they’re making soup stock to add flavor and nutrients.
Collagen often hides and bones of certain animals — often cows and pigs — are boiled, dried, treated with a strong acid or base, and finally filtered until the collagen is extracted. The collagen is then dried, ground into a powder, and sifted to make gelatin.
In fruit jelly, the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice. Jelly has the smoothest consistency and is usually clear. While in fruit jam, the fruit comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit.
One tablespoon of jelly (20g) provides 53.2 calories, 0g of protein, 14g of carbohydrate, and 0g of fat. Jelly is not rich in nutrients, but it does supply trace amounts of potassium, choline, and calcium.
Food dessert: Jelly
