Champagne Gelée With Kumquats Grapefruits And Blood Oranges Recipes

DESSERT WINE GELEES WITH CITRUS FRUIT

Steps:

• Combine 5 tablespoons cold water and gelatin in a bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.
• Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, and wines in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until sugar has dissolved. Add gelatin mixture, and whisk until melted. Cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and pour through a fine sieve into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. Let cool completely.
• Cut peel and pith from citrus. Cut each segment from membranes, then cut horizontally into 1/8- to 1/4-inch-thick slices (you will need 1 cup). Arrange in a single layer over gelatin mixture. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
• To unmold, run a knife around edge of dish. Using an offset spatula, gently coax gelatin from sides. Invert and turn out onto a cutting board. Trim edges, and cut into 1 1/4-inch squares. Serve immediately, or refrigerate, uncovered, up to 1 day.

CHAMPAGNE GELéE WITH KUMQUATS, GRAPEFRUITS, AND BLOOD ORANGES

Steps:

• To make the gelée, into a large bowl, pour 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the water. Sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the water and allow it to soften and swell for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, warm the remaining 1/2 cup (125 ml) water with the 1 cup (200 g) sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
• Pour the warm sugar syrup over the gelatin and stir until the gelatin completely dissolves. Add the Champagne or other sparkling wine (it will foam up; hence the large bowl) and the lime juice. Taste and add additional lime juice, if desired. Cover and refrigerate until jelled, at least 6 hours.
• To prepare the fruits, slice and seed the kumquats. In a small saucepan, warm the 2 tablespoons (30 g) sugar and 1/2 cup (125 ml) water, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and add the kumquats. Let them soak in the sugar syrup for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, peel, section, and seed the grapefruits and oranges.
• To assemble, spoon some of the chilled gelée into 6 wine glasses or goblets. Add a few sections of fruit and a few strips of citrus peel. Spoon in more gelée. Continue to layer in the fruit, citrus peel, and gelée until each glass is full. Serve immediately or chill until ready to serve.
• The gelée mixture will keep for up to 5 days in the refrigerator. Assemble the dessert the day of serving.
• Feel free to vary the fruit according to what's in season. In the summer, slightly sweetened peaches or nectarines are perfect, along with a few types of berries tossed in for good measure and color.
• If you're in a bit of a rush, you can speed up the jelling. Divide the still-liquid gelée mixture among 6 goblets or wine glasses and chill for a couple of hours until firm. When ready to serve, top each with a mixture of the fruits and citrus peel.

BLOOD ORANGE CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS

Steps:

• Pour 3 tablespoons juice in each champagne flute. Fill flutes with champagne, and serve.

BLOOD ORANGE & POMEGRANATE CHAMPAGNE COCKTAILS

Steps:

• Set out 4 champagne flutes - if they're chilled, all the better! Divide juices between each glass (about 1 tablespoon of each type of juice per glass). Add sugar, if using, and stir until dissolved. Fill the cups almost to the top with Prosecco. Pour slowly - there will be fizz! Drop in a few pomegranate arils and top with an orange slice. Serve.

KUMQUAT CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL

Steps:

• Using back of large spoon, mash first 3 ingredients in bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Strain mixture through fine sieve set over bowl, pressing on solids.
• Pour 2 tablespoons kumquat syrup into each of four 6-ounce Champagne flutes. Fill each with 2/3 cup Champagne.

CHAMPAGNE GELEE COCKTAIL

Steps:

• Bring 1 cup grape juice to a boil. Whisk in gelatin until dissolved. Pour the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Stir in 1 more cup of grape juice, 2 1/2 cups of Champagne or sparkling wine, and St-Germain liqueur. Let chill until the gelatin is set, 2 to 3 hours. Cut the gelatin into cubes and distribute it among glasses, also dropping pomegranate seeds in each. When ready to serve, pour more Champagne over the gelee (serve with small spoons).

MIXED CITRUS "MARMALADE"

Steps:

• Cut ends off kumquats, then cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds, removing seeds. Place kumquat slices in medium saucepan; pour enough cold water over to cover by 2 inches. Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Immediately remove from heat; strain. Return kumquat slices to pan; repeat blanching 2 more times. Transfer kumquat slices to medium bowl. Combine 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water in same saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then bring to boil, brushing down pan sides with wet pastry brush. Add kumquat slices; press gently to submerge. Reduce heat so that mixture barely simmers. Cover surface with parchment round. Cook without stirring until kumquats are translucent, 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes.
• Using slotted spoon, transfer kumquat slices to medium bowl. Add lemon slices and lemon juice to syrup in pan, pressing to submerge. Bring to boil. Reduce heat so that syrup barely simmers. Cover surface with parchment round. Cook without stirring until lemon slices are translucent, occasionally pressing on parchment to submerge slices, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand 15 minutes. Transfer lemon slices to cutting board; cut each into quarters. Add lemon quarters and syrup to bowl with kumquat slices. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover; chill.
• Cut off peel and white pith from blood oranges. Working over bowl to catch juices and using small knife, cut between membranes to release segments. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
• Drain syrup from kumquat-lemon mixture, reserving syrup. Drain orange segments. Combine fruit in medium bowl, adding some syrup if mixture is dry.

LEMON AND BLOOD ORANGE GELéE PARFAITS

Steps:

• Get out six 6- or 8-ounce glasses (I use 6-ounce tumblers that taper out from the bottom).
• Make the lemon layer. Place the gelatin in a medium bowl and pour in 1/4 cup of the water. Allow the gelatin to sit and "bloom" for 10 minutes. Combine the remaining water and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved and remove from the heat. Pour over the gelatin mixture and stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice. Pour about an inch into each of the glasses. Place in the refrigerator until set, about 1 hour.
• Make the blood orange gelée. Juice all but one of the oranges and strain. Juice the remaining orange, strain out the seeds but not the pulp, and add to the strained juice. Place the gelatin in a medium bowl and pour in 1/4 cup of the water. Allow the gelatin to sit and "bloom" for 10 minutes. Combine the remaining water and the sugar in a saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved and remove from the heat. Pour over the gelatin mixture and stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Stir in the orange juice. Make sure that the lemon layers are set and fill the tumblers with the orange juice mixture. If you want, you can make different patterns, alternating stripes of orange and yellow, but you will have to allow each layer to set before you add the next one. Refrigerate for several hours, until set.