Gelatin For Gin And Tonic Jelly

Our answer

Nigella's Gin And Tonic Jelly (from HOW TO BE A DOMESTIC GODDESS) is an adult-pleasing drink-made-dessert that is very different to the fruit flavoured jellies/gelatins. The recipe uses 28g (1 ounce) of leaf (also sometimes called sheet) gelatin as this needs just a short soak in cold water before using. It also dissolves easily in warm liquids.

For this recipe the leaf gelatin needs to be the strongest type of gelatin, which is called platinum grade. Leaf gelatin comes in various setting strengths (called grades): bronze (weakest), silver, gold and platinum (strongest). If you are using the wrong grade of gelatin then the dessert will not set properly and we suspect that this could be the problem. If you buy the gelatin in a cake decorating store then be sure to ask what grade it is, or check the labelling carefully. In the US we suggest looking for the PerfectaGel Platinum grade sheets (also be labelled as "230 bloom"), which is also available on-line. These sheets weigh approximately 2 grams each, which suggests that you would need 14 sheets. However we would caution that the weight can vary and we would suggest weighing the sheets yourself to ensure that the correct amount is used.