Citrus and cream jelly

March 30, 2011  •  Category:

 

Diet desserts?  I always figured if one feels like eating a slice of cake, great, eat it, enjoy every morsel, and cut back on portions of food at the next meal.


But what if you want to cut down on your food intake? Agar-agar is an appetite suppressant: Making these desserts and having one slice as a snack will ensure that one does not eat too much at the next meal.

Agar-agar is so full of fiber, that it helps digestion as well.

Today, the dessert is based on fresh citrus juice with citrus segments and a vanilla-flavored milk jello.

Sweetened a tad, simple to prepare and thanks to agar-agar (which has nine times the gelling power of regular gelatin), speedy as well.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups of fresh orange juice (16 ounces or 500ml)
  • 2 cups of low-fat milk (or half-and-half or cream)
  • 1/2 cup of sugar, divided (100 g.)
  • 4 oranges
  • 2 grapefruits
  • 1/2 cup of blueberries (optional) (100 g)
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or rose water or orange blossom
  • 2 teaspoons of agar-agar (4 g.)

METHOD:

  1. Peel the oranges and grapefruits into segments and set aside; press the remaining flesh into a juicer to extract as much juice as possible. Juice some oranges to obtain two cups of juice.
  2. Spray a loaf pan (one-quart in volume or 4 cups) and insert a long sheet of glad wrap. Place the orange and grapefruit segments on the entire base of the pan, overlapping if necessary. Sprinkle with blueberries.
  3. Transfer the fresh orange juice into a saucepan and add 1/4 cup of the sugar. Stir with a whisk while heating the mixture to dissolve the sugar. Sprinkle one teaspoon of the agar-agar on top and stir continuously the mixture over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. boil for two minutes and remove from the heat. Pour gently into the loaf pan taking care not to disturb the orange and grapefruit segments if possible.
  4. Let the mixture cool for 30 minutes or so and place in the fridge to gel for two hours.
  5. After two hours, pour two cups of milk into a saucepan with 1/4 cup of sugar and stir to dissolve. Sprinkle the agar-agar and bring to a boil; boil for two minutes, cool a bit (add the vanilla extract and stir) and pour over the orange jelly.
  6. Let the milk mixture cool on the counter and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
  7. When ready to serve, unmold, remove the plastic wrap and cut in slices.

NOTE: You can replace the agar-agar with gelatin or cornstarch.

Comments

40 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Rosa says:

    That is one delicious dessert! So fresh and wonderfully fruity/creamy.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  2. Julie says:

    Ça m’a l’air délicieux et surtout très frais. Ta terrine d’agrumes a tout bon : légère et pleine de vitamines C, en gros le dessert idéal et pas seulement en période de régime !
    Bises Joumana

  3. Lyndsey says:

    What a wonderful dessert! I have some agar agar and was wondering what to do with it. I love orange and cream, it reminds me of the orange-sicles my grandma had in her freezer when we were kids! YUM!

  4. meriem says:

    Ton dessert est superbe, léger, beau et vitaminé!

  5. Priya says:

    Stunning clicks, wat a incredibe jelly definitely looks refreshing and yummy..

  6. Devaki says:

    This is one beautiful dessert and just beckoning on a hot summer’s day. Also love your logic about ecstacy and food suppressant all rolled into one..lol…

    chow! Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

  7. Christine's Recipes says:

    The golden colour of this citrus and cream jelly is very beautiful. Love to have a dessert like this after a light meal.

  8. Adelina says:

    Never heard of agar agar. I wish I can put it into every meal. I am not sure if I can make this dessert since I am not very patient with jelly :(. I love the beautiful pics and all the citrus flavor combined with cream. Maybe I can get the courage of trying it.

  9. FOODESSA says:

    Joumana, it’s great to know that you’ve been testing out this agar-agar product for us…especially since, I for one have always stayed away from recipes with typical gelatin. I’m sure, I’ll get around to working with this product some day soon. Maybe no-bake cheesecakes 😉

    Your refreshing dessert looks perky and beautifully dressed ;o)

    Ciao for now,
    Claudia

  10. Eve@CheapEthnicEatz says:

    That looks like a wonderful slice of sweetness that would not need to be followed up by cake. Beautiful presentation as well. Love the milk layer…got to make this soon!

  11. Namitha says:

    That looks so elegant 🙂 Love the layers in it

  12. Suman Singh says:

    That is one goregous looking dessert! Simply goodness..Yum!

  13. arthur says:

    Wow, i did not know agar agar could look this gorgeous and good for you! What a beautiful dessert idea when everybody is making sweet buttery rich treats. Never really liked cakes with so much icing and sugar. I’ll make this one at home for sure! Cheers!!!

  14. Maria @ Scandifoodie says:

    Amazing! That is such a pretty dish and I bet it tasted delicious too!

  15. Susan says:

    We are citrus fanatics here and this sounds delicious and looks beautiful!

  16. familycook says:

    I love the combination of fruits with milk and agar-agar. It looks delicious too!

  17. Grapefruit says:

    That’s a beautiful looking terrine.
    Some problem at my end doesn’t let me access your pages sometimes & it seems by the time I come back and check again there are at least several posts. You’re such a prolific blogger – I admire you!

  18. Sally - My Custard P says:

    You have some patience to make this stunning dessert.

  19. Chiara says:

    a lovely dessert Joumana,I love it! have a good day…

  20. Nuts about food says:

    I totally agree and just wrote a post about that recently. If you are going to have dessert, have dessert and not just some pale imitation of it. Unless of course it is healthy, low calorie but delicious. In that case it makes sense because it is good. This is a beauty to look at. On a totally different note, I opened my bottle of pomegranate molasses last night. Do I store it in the fridge or does the sugar content make it ok to store it at room temperature?

    • Joumana says:

      @nuts about food: in Lebanon, people store it at room temperature; I would store it in the fridge, especially if you are not going to use it much. Safer.

  21. Caffettiera says:

    So refreshing and pretty. I often make myself little pots of ‘creme’ made by setting some milk with agar agar and my favourite flavourings. A great way to control cravings, I can assure you.

  22. Conor @ HoldtheBeef says:

    Oh sneaky agar-agar, doing two jobs at once!

  23. Jamie says:

    Oooh I hate thinking about diets even though I am now trying to stick to one! But rather I look at this and think, cool, fresh and fruity and then everything is good again. I think this is a wonderful idea for a dessert!

  24. Peter says:

    These desserts are light and refreshing in the summer…limited only by your imagination and what you find ripe at the market.

  25. deana says:

    Jellies used to be so popular and were served at every good Victorian table. I wonder why they fell out of fashion… maybe those horrid jello concoctions gave them a bad rap… the good ones are so delicious and refreshing. I actually have some agar-agar and have yet to try it. I had no idea it was an appetite suppressant… time to break it out to use in your lovely recipe. Gorgeous dish!

  26. sensiblecooking says:

    I don’t know if I will eat it of just keep staring at it. It looks so beautiful but is great for spring.

  27. Kankana says:

    This is awsm .. really liking you recipe spread . following you in twitter 🙂

  28. Jessica says:

    very beautiful terrine!

  29. Dana says:

    What a lovely looking dessert, diet or not. Perfect for a summer lunch outside!

  30. Krista says:

    Ohhh, this is SO pretty, Joumana! 🙂 I love molded gelatin desserts so much, but have never tried agar agar. I will have to hunt that up soon. I have blueberries that would make a perfect gelatin paired with a creamy layer. Mmm. 😉

  31. domi says:

    Un délicieux dessert aux agrumes, qui me séduit par sa fraîcheur acidulée, idéal pour les chaudes journées qui reviennent

  32. kouky says:

    waou!! je tombe devant ce dessert et je suis totalement séduite!! que demander de plus? frais,coloré,facile et léger! que du bonheur!! il trouvera sa place sur notre table d’amateurs d’agrumes!! merci merci Joumana!! bonne journée! bises!

  33. bergamot says:

    Looks delicious. Agar-agar was used by mother since I don’t know when to make a simple milk havla. Soft, melt in the mouth yet creamy topped with nuts. It is only recently that I discovered that it is a wonderful replacement for gelatin and use it quite often for eggless mouse & cheesecake. It is indeed a good choice. I have never used it for jellies but I think, I will try it now.

  34. Juanita says:

    That’s a beautiful dessert! It is like art on a plate.
    I love the use of vegan agar-agar rather than gelatine.

  35. Magic of Spice says:

    My kind of diet food… absolutely delightful dessert!

  36. Vee says:

    Marhaba!

    A gallon of gratitude to you for coming up with a recipe that even lazy students may follow – not to mention a genuinely appetizing one.

    The agar was like a sharp poke to the head: it`s not just those microbes in the lab, I can eat this stuff too! It was especially helpful as I dislike gelatin while enjoying pudding and jellies. Not precisely logical, lol.

    Keep up the brilliant work!
    Vee

  37. Litda Tuy says:

    You’re amazing!!! This is amazing! My cooking techniques will be changed so much thanks to your agar agar recipes! Thank you!

  38. fruit extract says:

    Hey there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my twitter group?
    There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content.

    Please let me know. Cheers

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