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Every housewife should try to make melon jelly for the winter, who does not leave her family without such winter preparations as jam, compotes, jams. This light, aromatic and tasty dessert will not only cheer up the whole family at any time, but will also successfully serve as the final item of any festive dinner. And it's not difficult to cook it.
Features and secrets of making melon jelly
Few people will refuse melon jelly, especially in winter, when the sale season of this melon crop has already ended. There are practically no contraindications for the use of melon jelly. But the beneficial properties of the fruit retains almost everything, because it undergoes heat treatment for a short time.
Melon jelly belongs to sweets "light" - with a low sugar content compared to other sweet preparations for the winter, because gelatin is used to thicken the syrup, and sugar is only to taste and desire.
In most recipes for melon jelly with gelatin, the fruit is processed into a puree or only its juice is used. In this case, you can take a well-ripened melon.
When you want the pieces of fruit to be preserved in the jelly, you need to choose a melon with dense pulp or buy two fruits with different degrees of ripeness:
- use well-ripened for making syrup;
- slightly unripe - for whole pieces in jelly.
Lovers of jelly sweets can diversify this dessert by adding slices of other fruits to the melon jelly or using the juice of various fruits and berries to make jelly syrup. For those who like to feel the additional taste of exotic spices, the opportunity is open for experiments and the development of new recipes:
- add juice or zest of lemon, lime;
- vanilla, mint, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon;
- in recipes for adults - rum, cognac, liqueur, vodka.
You can experiment not only with taste, but with the appearance of the dessert: get a light, almost transparent jelly with pieces of melon, or make the syrup red, raspberry, cherry, yellow, green, using the juice of other fruits and berries.
Melon recipes in jelly for the winter
The basis of the recipe for making melon jelly for the winter is simple and it is the same - the melon liquid acquires a jelly state with the help of gelatin. And the rest is a culinary fantasy. Therefore, there may be a lot of recipes.
A simple melon jelly recipe for the winter
Required products:
- melon pulp - 0.5 kg;
- sugar - 5 tbsp. l .;
- water - 2 tbsp.;
- gelatin - 2 tbsp. l .;
- citric acid - 0.5 tbsp. l.
Sequencing:
- Cut the melon into pieces, put in a saucepan for making jam.
- Add water, sugar, citric acid, mix everything.
- When the contents of the pot boil, reduce heat and simmer for another 5-7 minutes.
- Separate the melon pieces from the syrup.
- Add the swollen gelatin to the hot syrup, pre-soaked for 20-30 minutes in 50 ml of cold water, and stir until it is completely dissolved.
- Combine melon pieces with hot syrup.
- Pour into prepared containers and roll up the lids.
Such a dessert cannot be compared with ordinary jam or jam for tea. This delicate, aromatic and not very sweet dish can be served to any festive table and be calm that everyone will like it.
With orange juice
A small addition in the form of an orange dramatically changes the color and taste of the melon jelly. For cooking you will need:
- melon - half of the fruit;
- orange - 3 large;
- water - 1 tbsp.;
- gelatin - 10 g;
- sugar - 4 tbsp. l.
Cook as follows:
- Squeeze the juice from the oranges in a juicer.
- Combine orange juice with water and sugar in a cooking bowl, heat to a boil.
- Cut the melon into pieces, grind in a blender until puree, put in boiling orange juice, boil for 3 minutes, remove from heat.
- Add the swollen gelatin (preliminary put 10 g of the product in a third of a glass of water) and stir until it dissolves.
- Pour immediately into sterilized jars and roll them up.
With honey and rum
A dessert option for adults for a festive party. The following products are needed:
- melon pulp - 700 g;
- light honey - 125 g;
- lemon - half of the fruit;
- rum - 2 tbsp. l .;
- gelatin - 1 tbsp. l .;
- cardamom - 2 pcs.;
- water - 2 tbsp.
Preparation in the following order:
- Combine water with honey in a saucepan, stir.
- Add rum, juice of half a lemon, crushed cardamom.
- Put on fire.
- Grind the melon until puree in a blender.
- Add to the boiled mixture, in a saucepan and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
- Turn off heat and add swollen gelatin. Stir thoroughly, pack hot in a canning dish.
The cardamom in this recipe is optional. Sometimes not the whole melon is mashed, but only a part. The other part is cut into pieces and put into boiling syrup along with melon puree. Then the jelly will be heterogeneous, there are pieces of fruit in it.
Terms and conditions of storage
Melon jelly, prepared for the winter and packaged according to the rules of canning in sterilized dishes, is stored like any jam all winter.
If there are storage conditions at low temperatures, for example, in a cellar, on a loggia, in a refrigerator, then it is better to put jars of jelly there, because there is much less sugar in such a dessert than in jam.
Melon jelly, not closed for preservation with special lids for the winter, can be stored in the refrigerator for a short time. This period also depends on whether there is a lot of sugar and acid in it, as well as on the method of preparation - how long the heat treatment of the products lasted.
Conclusion
Melon jelly for the winter will help out any hostess in case of an unexpected arrival of guests. Such a dessert is an independent dish, to which nothing is needed to complement the taste. Making jelly with gelatin is easy, it does not require a lot of labor. You just need to choose the taste of the main fruit and decide with which additives to express it as much as possible.
