Grapefruit Agar Jelly Slices

The grapefruit jelly slices turned out better once they sat overnight.  The skin stopped wanting to slide off (always a good thing…).

1.0 Make Grapefruit Juice Concentrate

Ingredients: Grapefruit Juice

Instructions:

• Buy a big jug of really good grapefruit juice.
• Find smaller bottles to put the juice into, that you can put in the freezer.
  • Make sure they fit in your freezer… seems obvious, but the pull out drawer freezers are short, and you don’t want to lay the container down… especially if like me, you don’t have a lid
  • I used glass pint milk/cream jugs – which work well, since they sit nicely on top of a pint glass.
• Freeze the juice for a few hours, till it is frozen solid.
• Invert the container on top of a pint glass.
• Let it thaw – the juice drips down, the water stays frozen longer.
• Collect the juice into another container, and freeze again, and thaw again.
• Go through the freezing step 2 or 3 times, until you’re happy with how concentrated the juice is.

2.0 Make “Frappe”

Ingredients:

• 50 grams   ________________ Dry Albumen (AKA Icing Powder, Meringue Powder)
• 50 grams   ________________ Cold Water
• 250 grams  ________________ glucose syrup (You can use corn syrup if you can’t find glucose)
• 250 grams  ________________ invert sugar – honey  (a sweetener that won’t re-crystalize – corn syrup works)

Instructions:

• Mix icing powder & water – Let sit for 20 minutes, while you get the other stuff ready.
• In a medium sauce pan, combine glucose syrup & invert sugar
• Attach your candy thermometer to the pan.  Heat the sugars on medium.
• Don’t stir unless parts are starting to scorch, then stir lightly to prevent burning.
• Place the icing powder & water mixture in a stand mixer (hand mixer not recommended, unless you have 4 arms)
  • Whisk attachment
• When sugar syrup reaches 230° F start whipping the icing powder & water.
• When the sugar syrup reaches 240° F remove from heat and stream the hot syrup slowly and carefully into the whipping mixture, trying not to get too much on the metal bowl, or into the whisk.
• Whip the mixture on high until the bowl is cool enough to touch.
• Store Frappe mixture in an airtight container, at room temp.

3.0 Make “Skin”

Ingredients:

• 5 grams    ________________ Agar Agar Powder (You can find it at odd spice stores, it is vegan)
• 115 grams ________________ Sugar (evaporated cane juice.  use plain white sugar)
• 95 grams   ________________ Cold water
• 80 grams   ________________ glucose syrup
• 95 grams   ________________ Juice concentrate (grapefruit juice concentrate in this case)
• 75 grams   ________________ “Frappe” (from the above recipe, use it fresh, or warm it some)

Instructions:

• Prepare a sheet pan (half sheet pan – probably the biggest in your kitchen) with silpat & acetate sheet – using fancy pastry frame bars if you have them.
• In a sauce pan mix the agar & sugar (whisk it together)
• Add the cold water to the agar & sugar mixture.
• Add the glucose (I usually put the sauce pan on the scale and add the syrups right to it)
• Over medium heat (& using a candy thermometer) heat the mixture to 223° F / 106° C This will take about 6 minutes, but keep a close eye on it, as once the water boils off the temperature will go up much faster.
• Remove from heat and carefully whisk in the juice.
• Pour the mixture onto the prepared sheet pan, trying for a nice even layer, that is as long as the pan. Make sure it is wide enough as well.
• Let set for 2 to 3 hours.
• Move the acetate sheet to a cutting board (lest you ruin your silpat), and cut into a strip that will fit in your rounded mold.
• Score the skin lightly, careful not to cut through, to help the filling stay put.

4.0 Make Filling

Ingredients:

• 5 grams    ________________ Agar Agar Powder (You can find it at odd spice stores, it is vegan)
• 160 grams ________________ Sugar (evaporated cane juice.  use plain white sugar)
• 130 grams   ________________ Cold water
• 120 grams   ________________ glucose syrup
• 130 grams   ________________ Juice concentrate (grapefruit juice concentrate in this case)

4.1 Sugar Coating

Ingredients:

• 200 grams ________________ Sugar (evaporated cane juice.  use plain white sugar)
• ¹⁄₂ tsp   ________________ fine sea salt
• ¹⁄₂ tbsp   ________________ ascorbic acid / citric acid

Instructions:

• Have the mold with the skin in it ready to go, and set.
• In a sauce pan mix the agar & sugar (whisk it together)
• Add the cold water to the agar & sugar mixture.
• Add the glucose
• Over medium heat (& using a candy thermometer) heat the mixture to 223°F / 106°C
• Remove from heat and cool to 194° F / 90° C
• Carefully whisk in the juice – pour it in, and whisk from the middle out.
• Whisk until the whole mixture becomes wobbly like loose jello.
• Pour the mixture into the mold.  (My mold is too big, so i tilted it up and ended up with graduated size hemispheres when I cut the slices)
• Let set for 3 hours.
• …
• Coat the top of the filling in the sugar coating mixture.
• Carefully trim the top of the skin to be flush with the filling.
• Remove the whole thing, with the acetate on, to a cutting board.
• Remove the acetate carefully.
• Brush food coloring on the skin, and let dry for a minute.
• Cut into slices – about an ¹⁄₈ of an inch thick.
• Dredge slices in the sugar mixture
• Place on a wire rack (or icing screen, if you’re fancy) to set over night
• They will be much less delicate after sitting over night.
• If you do not let them sit, they will turn into a gooey mess when you put them in a sealed container.