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What is Hartley's Orange Jelly?

I saw a recipe on Yahoo that used orange jelly so I did a search for it and found Hartley's. It looks to be similar to Jello but I get the feeling it's a bit different given how it is used in recipes. Appears to be a British product. Anyone familiar with it?

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    1. Jelly is used to mean two slightly different things in the UK. Jello as here, which would be set with gelatine or a substitute, or a jam/preserve which has no solids in it and was set with pectin.
      I would expect a recipe calling for orange jelly to mean the latter, a set orange marmalade with no solids.

      1. Jelly comes in two forms and is pretty much what I understand to be what Americans call Jello

        One is a ready to eat fruit flavoured dessert in a pot - that isnt what will be used in a recipe. The other comes as a block which is dissolved in hot water and poured into a mould which then sets as a dessert, or part of a dessert (such as trifle) - basically sweetened fruit flavoured gelatin

        There are a number of manufacturers - but I'll recommend Hartley's only as its my surname (although no family connection to the business that I know of). Link to relevent page of my normal supermarket - http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/shop/gb/g...

        By the by, whilst I'm sure some Britons may use the word in the context of a preserve, I can't recall ever seeing it. Common usage is usually "jam" or "conserve".

        2 Replies
        1. re: Harters

          No redcurrant or mint jelly with lamb, no japonica jelly?

          1. re: andrewtree

            Mint sauce goes with lamb - just mint, sugar & malt vinegar.

            I've never heard of japonica jelly. I have Fatsia Japonica and Camellia Japonica in the garden but I'd be surprised if any of it was edible, although maybe it is (I know Camellia Sinensis is the tea plant).

        2. Here is the recipe that used the orange jelly.


          It's confusing because the ingredient list say "136g packet orange jelly" which makes me think of a jello type powder, but the directions say "Put the solid jelly into a bowl or jug, add the marmalade and boiling water and mix well to melt the jelly."

          4 Replies
          1. re: Jpan99

            Yes, that's what I said - it comes as a block. The recipe directions are entirely correct for how you'd use it.

            By the by, the recipe comes from Simon Rimmer - his main (vegetarian) restaurant is a few minutes drive from home and his other place (omnivore) is about a 15 minute drive.

            1. re: Harters

              It threw me for a loop when I first started looking for a Jello-type product here in the UK. The Hartleys is just a super-concentrated block of prepared Jello, which you dissolve in the water just like you would with Jello powder. I actually prefer it over Jello now because there's no dealing with making sure all the granules are dissolved.

              1. re: tacosandbeer

                That's interesting. So you dissolve the condensed jelly block in water then chill it and it's like our Jello? So I understand then how it can be used in recipes. I was trying to picture prepared Jello being melted to use for a recipe and it didn't make sense!

                1. re: Jpan99

                  Yes. Just as I described in my post of 21/4.

          2. Just watched a Doc Martin movie that was a prequel of sorts to the current PBS series. Same actor, character with different last name and more affable temperament, same Cornwall town. Part of the story involved an anonymous gossip who delivered tidbits of incriminating info inserted into molded fruit-flavored gelatin/jello. The jello was turned out onto a plate which was surreptitiously left at the targeted person's door. They referred to them as jellies.

            1 Reply
            1. re: greygarious

              Yes, indeed - when we make a dessert just using jelly, we call them jellies. Victorian/Edwardian era jelly moulds are a niche market for antique collecters. Some can be very elaborate.