Recipe Fridays!

Fruit Jellies

from Martha Stewart

Spring is in the air, the weather is starting to hover above 28 degrees, and I'm starting to think about fruit, fresh and wonderful. Why not a lovely sweet jelly candy? Citric acid is available at baking supply stores; you can sometimes find it at Whole Foods.

Ingredients

Makes 85 to 90

• Apricot Jelly Flavoring
• Cranberry Jelly Flavoring
• Fig Jelly Flavoring
• Grape Jelly Flavoring
• Pineapple Jelly Flavoring
• Rose Jelly Flavoring
• 2 ounces gelatin, (plus 1 more ounce if making pineapple jellies)
• 2 cups water
• 4 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon citric acid
• 1 cup superfine or confectioners' sugar
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Spray two 8-inch square pans with vegetable-oil spray. Prepare flavoring.
2. In a 6-quart saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over 2 cups water; let gelatin soften for about 3 minutes. Add granulated sugar and citric acid. Heat slowly over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Wash down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush to remove any sugar crystals.
3. Increase heat to high; bring gelatin to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and boil gelatin, without stirring, 15 minutes. The syrup needs to be watched while it boils; if it starts to turn dark tan before the 15 minutes, it is ready. Remove from heat.
4. Let stand for 5 minutes while bubbles dissipate; some white foam will remain. Whisk in flavoring. Without scraping pot, pour evenly into prepared pans. Let stand, uncovered, for 24 hours. Unmold, cut into 1-inch squares or other desired shapes; roll in superfine or confectioners’ sugar, and serve. Store jellies between pieces of parchment paper in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Apricot Jelly Flavoring

4 ounces dried apricots

1 cup water
1 tablespoon apricot oil, or orange-flower water

Directions

1.Chop apricots medium fine, place in a small saucepan, and add 1 cup water. Cover, and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low, and cook, covered, until water has been absorbed, 10 to 20 minutes.
2.Transfer apricots to a food processor. Process to a fine puree. Transfer to a bowl, and add apricot oil or orange-flower water.