Makes 1/4 pint (150ml)
1/4 pint (150ml) cold water
2 level teaspoons powdered gelatine
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon wine vinegar
1 level tablespoon castor sugar
1/4 level teaspoon salt
Put the water into a saucepan, sprinkle in the gelatine and leave to soak for 5 minutes. Add the lemon juice, wine vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir over low heat to dissolve the gelatine (do not boil).
Allow to cool until the mixture begins to thicken and shows signs of setting. (You can speed this up by setting the pan in a bowl of iced water.) If aspic sets firm simply warm until completely dissolved and allow to cool again.
To use: Spoon cooled jelly over the surface of a mousse or pâté. If decorating mousses or pâté, it’s a good idea to spoon a little of the jelly into a saucer and use this for dipping and fixing the decorations. If decorations are positioned and chilled then they will remain in place when the glaze is added. Sometimes it looks pretty if you spread a little aspic over the base of a serving plate â the sliced pâté will be reflected in the plate. Any leftover jelly can be chopped with a wet knife and -spooned around cold foods. Lemon aspic jelly gives a glorious finish to a cold poached salmon.