Violet Gelicacies

Spring is flourishing here in Boston. Tree blossoms everywhere and violets blooming in abundance in my garden.  Violets are pretty, but I've always thought of them as happenstance. Nobody ever plants them,  they just appear and make nice ground cover. A beneficent weed.

Then I learned they were edible, and that has changed everything. 

Begin at the Beginning

Gelology essentially started as a way to fundraise for the 2008 Boston Marathon. I was running for a charity and throwing a jello party seemed like a great way to get people to donate.  Now in 2012, I make gelatins for other peoples fundraising events.  And I don't have to run 26.2 miles in 80 degree heat.  Kudos to you all for your efforts today, but I'm sitting next to the fan right now.

Marsh-jelllo Peeps

Just in time for Easter, Marshmallow Peeps gelicacies.  These peeps are made from gelatin, sweetened condensed milk, marshmallows,  and a simple syrup made from vanilla and marshmallow vodkas. 

©Gelology and Vuth Neou

Titanic- My Heart Will Gel On...

Today, James Cameron's epic film Titanic premieres in 3-D  across the country.  This is timed to commemorate  the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15th, 1912.  To commemorate both the film and event, I've made a Titanic gelatin complete with fated iceberg.

Blueberry Basil Geltini for Grub Street

On a recent night on the town, I had the most delicious beverage at 28 Degrees- a blueberry basil martini. I went home with a mission to make a gelled version of this drink.

One of the greatest challenges when trying to gel a tasty beverage is getting the right flavor potency. Something that tastes great in liquid form can end up insipid when it's gelled. But just adding more of all flavors doens't always equal tasty in the end. Sweet disappears when chilled more quickly than sour, so you can easily end of up with a really tart gel.  

In this case, the basil turned out to be the hardest to perfect.  In the martini, the flavor was  present but not overwhelming. Even though I have a background in lab science, I  still rely on  measuring cups  and volume just doesn't cut it when you're working with herbs. It's all about mass.  Two people measuring out their own cup of basil leaves could vary by as much 30%.  To complicate the matter further, the essential oil in the basil varies on age and size of leaf.  True molecular gastronomers extract the essential oils from herbs be more in control of concentration.  After several tries in the gelaboratory I found the right concentration of sweet, tart, and basilosity (not a real word....yet). 

Here's the  Blueberry Basil Geltini with a milk gelatin on top and the Grub Street logo on top.  Thanks to Julie Sterling for the beautiful photograph from the Grub Street Party. 

Gelology's Blueberry Basil Geltini- Photo © Julie Sterling Williams