As Christmastime approaches again, it’s time to focus attention on two more forgotten favorites from the 18th century dessert table: ribband jelly and blancmange.
Ribband Jelly
Our first dessert is a simple Ribband Jelly that descends from an ancient dessert called white leach.[1] A white leach was a milk jelly flavored with rosewater and colored with gold to create an elaborate pattern. [2]
Ribband jelly simply means the jelly has multi-layers of different colors.[3] Ribband jelly was a popular dessert on the salvers of Betty Washington Lewis’s holiday table because it added some pleasing color and texture to the spread.
We will be following a modernized version of the recipe by Hannah Glasse in her book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy which was in Betty’s library. Traditionally, the jelly is thickened with calves bones and Hartshorn, which is the shavings of the soft velvet from the antlers of young male deer, as well as with isinglass, which is dried swimming bladders from fish, particularly sturgeon. [4]
The Ribband jelly we are making sounds similar to one written about by Thomas Jefferson during his diplomatic mission to France, where he lived from 1784 to 1789. He wrote down a recipe for a nutmeg- and lemon-spiked “wine jelly” on what appears to be an 18th-century version of a cocktail napkin.
However, we will be using the more modern powdered gelatin first made available in the Victorian era.[5]
We will stick with the original coloring agents, however, using spinach for green and cochineal (the scales of the insect Dactylopius coccus) for red.
Blancmange
Our second dessert, blancmange or flummery, we know was popular with Betty’s brother George during his Christmastime feasts.[6]
Initially, flummery and blancmange were two different dishes. Blancmange was a savory dish of capon or chicken in milk and was thought ideal for the sick. Flummery was a jelly made by steeping oatmeal in water overnight and boiling the strained liquor with sugar. [7]
However, by the 18th century, flummery had become a synonym for blancmange, which had evolved into a sweet almond-flavored dish made with milk or cream and thickened with Hartshorn, isinglass, or, later, gelatin.[8] [9]
Flummeries and blancmanges were usually made with molds to create elaborate decorative displays that served as the center piece of the party.
For our blancmange we will be following a recipe by Hannah Glasse again. It is called “French Flummery”. [10] As a setting agent, we will be trying the traditional isinglass as recommended. [11]
These traditional desserts were the forerunners of today’s Jell-O molds that grace many tables during the holidays.[12] Perhaps this year, try a traditional jelly or blancmange, similar to the ones that graced the Washington family table and enjoy a little bit of history with your holiday feast.
Heather Baldus
Collections Manager
[1] Thomas Dawson, The Good Huswives Jewell (London: 1596)
[2] https://www.historicfood.com/Jellies.htm
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isinglass
[5] https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/biochemistry/biochemistry/gelatin#2
[6] https://www.mountvernon.org/inn/recipes/article/blancmange/
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blancmange
[8] https://www.historicfood.com/Jellies.htm
[9] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blancmange
[10] Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy.
[11] http://foodhistorjottings.blogspot.com/2013/08/jaune-mange.html
[12] Moskin, Julia. “How Jell-O Molds Claimed Their Spot on the American Table.” https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/25/dining/jello-mold.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR3HCrnhDlqGZtsO7F_AdZxRJ8qJwlvQ57iMMs2MCiuMUKTLbOkQGCi-bZ0
