A fresh and fragrant jelly, the perfect dessert to finish a fish course!
ingredients for about 6 servings (total cost about 2 € with organic products)
- 600 ml mineral or filtered water
- peels from 3 lemons
- 60 ml lemon juice
- 165 g sugar
- 53 g cornstarch (maizena) or 46 g wheat starch (frumina)
- a pinch of salt
Sicilian Geli are fragrant puddings where, instead of milk, fresh fruit juice or flavored water is used. In my opinion the star of the Sicilian geli, is, with no doubt, the lemon one! The velvety texture of this masterpiece is not at all compared to the unpleasant full of crystals sorbets, that are usually served after a fish-based meal.
The main ingredient of this dessert is the peel of the lemon which is infused into water, with a little addition of its juice. Therefore, better use organic and really fragrant lemons!
To make the gelo, we start by finely peeling the outer yellow part of the lemons. In a glass jar we put the water along with the lemon peels and we let them infuse overnight in the fridge.
The next morning, we strain the peels and we keep the infused water for the gelo. We squeeze enough of the lemons to get 60ml of filtered lemon juice and we mix it with the infused water. It is best to squeeze lemon juice a few hours earlier. Its aromas will intensify this way.
In a bowl suitable for a double boiler we sieve the starch (for more details about what starch to use and why, go to the “Sicilian strawberry gelo“) and we dilute it with the lemon juice-water mixture.
We place the bowl over a pot, filled half way up with gently boiling water (the bottom of the bowl should not touch the water) and we cook at medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk. When the preparation starts to jellify, we add the sugar and we continue stirring, until it thickens and we end up with a smooth velvety cream.
We remove the bowl with the gelo from the pot and we taste to control sweetness. If not sweet enough, we start adding icing sugar (it dissolves more easily) little by little and tasting, until we reach the desired sweetness. Keep in mind, though, that when the gelo cools, it will feel sweeter.
We continue whisking a little more to let it cool a bit, then we transfer to individual glasses, deep dishes, ramekins or pudding molds.
We let it cool for a while at room temperature, then we cover with cling film and we keep in the fridge until serving time. It is best consumed the next day, but even if you cannot wait that long, wait for at least let 4 hours, as the jellification procedure continues until the jelly chills completely.
We decorate with the julienne peels. You can see how to prepare the peels, reading our relevant article ““no-waste” candied citrus fruit peels – fast version“. Before serving, cut the peels into julliene stripes, arrange them over the geli and serve cold.
