Hippocras Jelly- Round 1

Seamus sent me an article (https://eatshistory.com/eating-like-king-henry-viii-jelly-hippocras-recipe/) for Hippocras Jelly, which in itself was a huge breakthrough. It's been surprisingly difficult for me to find uses of gelatin in SCA period that are sweet. Nearly everything I had found to this point talks about gelatin and aspic being used in savory dishes, and the sweet uses crop up right at the end or after period. So having 'hippocras jelly' as a search term has given me some solid variations to try on this base recipe. 

After reading the article and looking at the specific ingredient set, I did a little more searching and found some other articles and videos. This video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9XKaBSCwWA) has some great historical context and references, as well as a recipe. The payload really showed up here though (https://rarecooking.com/2018/12/10/hippocras-or-spiced-wine/) in terms of just making Hippocras on its own. 

So after considering all the variation options (mull the wine separately or add the spices at the same time as the gelatin, which spices and how much, sugar and how much), this is where I landed for Round 1 of an anticipated Several Rounds:

*I made the Hippocras separately, with information I found from the rare cooking website, as noted below:

To a bottle of red wine (2024 Côtes du Rhône), I added:

4 cinnamon sticks
2-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
1/4 t ground nutmeg
4 whole cloves
4 black peppercorns
2 springs fresh rosemary
1/3 c sugar

This is a variation on the section below:

"Otherwayes.

Take to a pottle of wine an ounce of cinamon, an ounce of ginger, an ounce of nutmegs, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, seven corns of pepper, a handfull of rosemary flowers, and two pound of sugar."

Robert May, The accomplisht cook, or The art and mystery of cookery. Wherein the whole art is revealed in a more easie and perfect method, then hath been publisht in any language. Expert and ready wayes for the dressing of all sorts of flesh, fowl, and fish; the raising of pastes; the best directions for all manner of kickshaws, and the most poinant sauces; with the tearms of carving and sewing. An exact account of all dishes for the season; with other a la mode curiosities. Together with the lively illustrations of such necessary figures as are referred to practice. / Approved by the fifty years experience and industry of Robert May, in his attendance on several persons of honour. (London: Printed by R.W. for Nath. Brooke, at the sign of the Angel in Cornhill, 1660), Wing M1391. Photo courtesy of the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts. 

*After adding all ingredients except the sugar to the bottle, I let it sit at room temperature for two days. I then followed a variation on the Hippocras Jelly recipe from the website Seamus shared to make the actual jelly.

*I strained the wine to remove the solids, then heated it slightly over the stovetop and added the sugar and stirred to dissolve. I took 1 cup of warm water and added 4 packets of Knox gelatin and stirred. I added the gelatin/water mixture to the wine, stirred to mix, then used a baster to put into prepared molds as well as shot cups.

Notes

-The color is a stunning purple, absolutely gorgeous.

-The scent is very mulled wine, so it smells like warm cozy Christmas.

-The flavor certainly evokes the spices, though there could be more. Whether that means adding more or steeping for longer is a question for consideration. 

-Also worth noting is that the Hippocras Jelly recipes I found do not make Hippocras first, as I did. They use red wine and water add (ground) spices within 10 minutes of setting the mix with gelatin, I suppose trusting the spices to stay in the mix and continuing to deepen the flavor. That method will need to be another variation to test whether or not it works.

-This amount of sugar works well, though I would be interested to try it with a bit more. I would not use less, as I think it is balancing the tannins in the red wine.

-Would definitely snack again.

-Going forward- other versions I've found use different spice combinations, different wine to water ratios, and different gelatin to liquid ratios. Many experiments to try!