Fruit Jelly Cubes | Agar-agar Recipes | 果冻块食谱 | 燕菜糕食谱

These Fruit Jelly Cubes made with Agar-agar are so refreshing and delicious! Lovely vibrant colours to brighten the mood. Best part is, it is super easy and quick to make!

Added fruit juice base layer to enhance the flavour of this jelly – This jelly has a 3 layers. The top layer is a clear layer, middle is a coconut layer and the base layer is mixed with orange or mango juice. The texture of this jelly is quite soft (you can adjust texture by adjusting the ratio or jelly powder to liquid).

EXPLANATION OF KEY INGREDIENTS

Agar-agar

Agar-agar is extracted from seaweed and is plant-based. It works like gelatin and is often used to make jelly, especially in Asia. Being plant based, it has become very popular amongst vegetarians or vegans as a substitute for gelatin. It is odorless and does not contribute much taste to the jelly, perhaps just a slight hint of fragrance.

Agar-agar comes in powder form or strips. You can substitute agar-agar powder with agar-agar strips if preferred.

Jelly Powder

For this recipe, I added Jelly Powder. Agar-agar texture is more stiff. Jelly powder makes the jelly more springy, clearer and more resilient (i.e. less likely to break easily)

The Instant Jelly Powder is made of Carageenan, Konjac Gum and Sodium Citrate (information provided by Bake With Yen staff). Konjac Gum is derived from Konjac plant. As for Carageenan, according to wikipedia “Carrageenans or carrageenins are a family of natural linear sulfated polysaccharides that are extracted from red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, and stabilizing properties.”

IMPORTANT COOKING TIPS

  • Agar-agar needs to be added to cold/room temperature liquid so that it does not clump up when cooking.
  • Mix the agar-agar powder and jelly powder with caster sugar well before adding to the liquid so that the jelly powder don’t clump up.
  • After adding the mixed jelly powder and sugar to the liquid, mix well to avoid lumps while cooking
  • Cook the jelly mixture on low heat and mix often especially at the beginning while cooking so that the jelly powder does not clump up when cooking
  • The jelly liquid needs to be cooked to boiling point to activate the gelling properties, after boiling the liquid will become clear.
  • Remove air bubbles from the liquid to get a smooth jelly texture
  • When cooking the coconut layer, don’t boil the liquid. This is cause the coconut to split.
  • When adding the next layer of jelly liquid, the jelly liquid needs to be steaming hot so that the layers gel well.

LAYERED JELLY METHOD

Making agar-agar jelly with two layers can be tricky. If not done properly the layers will not stick together. Two important steps to remember:

(1) Do not let the first layer set for too long before pouring the next layer. Ideally, pour the next layer when the first layer is about to set completely. The top of the jelly will form a thick film.

(2) When pouring the next layer of jelly liquid, the jelly liquid has to be steaming hot before pouring for the gelling properties to react well. Do not boil jelly liquid. Just cook on lowest heat until the liquid starts to steam.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is Agar-agar?

Agar-agar is extracted from seaweed and is plant-based. It works like gelatin and is often used to make jelly, especially in Asia. Being plant based, it has become very popular amongst vegetarians or vegans as a substitute for gelatin. It is odorless and does not contribute much taste to the jelly, perhaps just a slight hint of fragrance.

Agar-agar comes in powder form or strips. You can substitute agar-agar powder with agar-agar strips if preferred.

My jelly texture is too soft/firm, can I change the texture?

Yes, you can. The texture of the jelly is based on the ratio of water/liquid to agar-agar powder. So if you prefer softer texture, reduce the jelly powder or vice versa.

Why does my jelly not set?

Not enough agar-agar powder used. Different brand of jelly powder have different liquid to agar-agar powder ratio. Generally the ratio is 1g powder = 100ml liquid but may differ from brand to brand.

Agar-agar starts to activate its gelling properties when the liquid is heated above 80-90°C. So it is necessary to make sure the liquid is cooked until it is boiling. Then leave to cool to room temperature. It will start to solidify below 40°C.

What is the texture of agar-agar?

Agar-agar texture is more stiff compared to gelatin. Hence it is not so jiggly and springy.

HOW TO STORE ?

Unmould just before serving as the jelly tend to release water after unmoulding. They can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. They are enjoyed cold.

CAN THIS BE PREPARED IN ADVANCE?

Yes, prepare the agar-agar jelly a day in advance, place in the fridge and unmould just before serving.

Troubleshooting – My jelly did not set, what can I do about it?

Step 1 – If it is your first time trying the recipe there is a test you can do. Before pouring into the mold, just scoop up a small portion of the liquid into a small saucer. Place it into the fridge to set. It should take about less than 5 minutes. Check the texture of the jelly. If you are happy with it, the proceed to pour into the mold. If it did not set, add more jelly powder (before adding the powder, dilute it in some room temperature water first), pour into the existing jelly liquid and heat up the liquid again. Redo the test and once you are happy with the texture, pour into the mould

Vice versa, if you find the texture of the jelly is too stiff/hard, add more water into the existing jelly liquid and heat up the liquid again. Redo the test and once you are happy with the texture, pour into the mould

Step 2 – If you have already poured into the mold and eventually find out that it did not set. Don’t throw it away! You can always fix it. Just simply place the liquid into a pot, add jelly powder, mix well and reheat again. Then repeat the above step 1 to test the jelly.

Fruit Jelly Cubes | Agar-agar Recipes | 果冻块食谱 | 燕菜糕食谱

Fruit Jelly Cubes | Agar-agar Recipes | 果冻块食谱 | 燕菜糕食谱

Yield: 9 pieces
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Chill Time: 3 hours
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

Ingredients:

  • 120-160 grams caster sugar 120-190克细砂糖
  • 6 grams agar-agar powder 6克燕菜粉
  • 6 grams instant jelly powder (if you don't have instant jelly powder, you can substitute with 6 grams agar-agar powder) 6克速溶果冻粉(如果没有速溶果冻粉,用6克燕菜粉代替)
  • 1200ml water, room temperature 1000毫升水,室温
  • 30 ml (1 tablespoon), coconut milk, room temperature 30 毫升(1 汤匙)椰奶,室温
  • 100ml orange/mango juice 100毫升橙汁/芒果汁

Fruits:

  • 4 strawberries 4 个草莓
  • 1/2 white dragonfruit 一半白火龙果
  • 1 mango 1 个芒果
  • 1 kiwi 1 猕猴桃
  • 1/2 mandarin orange 1/2 个橘子

Mould:

  • 7 inch * 7 inch * 2 inch 7寸*7寸*2寸方形模具,可以使用其他模具

Instructions

  1. Please refer to Youtube Video below: