This section is from the book "Breakfast, Luncheon And Tea", by Marion Harland. Also available from Amazon: Breakfast, Luncheon And Tea.
12 fine deep-colored oranges.
1 package Coxe's gelatine, dissolved in one cup cold water.
3 cups white sugar.
Juice of the oranges, and grated rind of three.
2 cups boiling water.
1/4 teaspoonful cinnamon.
Soak the gelatine three hours in the cup of cold water. Cut from the top of each orange a round piece, leaving a hole just large enough to admit the bowl of a small spoon, or the handle of a larger. The smaller the orifice, the better your dish will look. Clean out every bit of the pulp very carefully, so as not to tear the edges of the hole. Scrape the inner skin from the sides with your fore-finger, and when the oranges are emptied lay them in cold water, while you make the jelly. Strain the juice and grated peel through coarse, thin muslin over the sugar, squeezing rather hard to get the coloring matter. Stir this until it is a thick syrup, and add the spice. Pour the boiling water upon the soaked gelatine; stir over the fire until well dissolved; add the juice and sugar, stir all together, and strain through a flannel bag into a pitcher, not shaking or squeezing it, lest it should be cloudy. Wipe off the outside of the oranges, set them close to gether in a dish, the open ends uppermost, and fill very full with the warm jelly, as it will shrink in cooling. Set away in a cold place where there is no dust. Next day, cut each in half with a sharp penknife, taking care to sever the skin all around before cutting into the jelly. If neatly divided, the rich amber jelly will be a fair counterfeit of the orange pulp. Pile in a glass dish, with green leaves around, as you would the real fruit.
This is a beautiful and delicious dish, and easily made.
 
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