Saturday, June 9, 2012

Jelly for grown-ups

In 2005 we spent Christmas in Auckland. We were house-sitting, so we decided that we would do Christmas dinner. My family could for once enjoy not having to do anything and just be looked after. (When I suggested this, they instantly responded with, "We'll bring the wine", so I gathered that they thought it was a good idea.)
              I hunted through our friends' ample store of recipe books for a light dessert, and found one for pinot noir jelly with berries. It was a great success, and I remembered it when I was thinking about what to have for dessert for the recent birthday dinner. A quick online search threw up what looked like a pretty good recipe, and it was - both pretty and good, and really easy to make well in advance. It comes from the New Zealand Blackcurrants site, but I'm afraid I didn't use blackcurrants (but one day I will) - I used frozen raspberries and a few boysenberries instead. Blueberries and blackberries would be good too.

Berry and pinot noir jelly
(Makes 8 x 125ml servings)

350g (1 + 1/2 cups) castor sugar
500ml (2 cups) pinot noir

For fresh berries:
14g (4 tsp) gelatine
About 350g fresh berries

For frozen berries:
20g (6 tsp) gelatine
About 500-540g frozen berries

Pinot noir syrup:
Put sugar and pinot noir into a saucepan set over a gentle heat. Stir till sugar is dissolved. Increase heat and heat to just below boiling.
Put 125ml (1/2 cup) pinot noir syrup in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatine onto syrup. Stir to dissolve.
Pour into remaining pinot noir syrup and stir till combined. Leave to cool.

Divide fresh or frozen fruit between serving dishes or glasses (I used my pink glass cups and saucers). 
Add pinot noir syrup to come up to near the top. 
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight, or till set.
Take out of the fridge about 1/4 of an hour before serving.


Everyone loved this - it was light and had a beautiful balance between sweetness and sharpness. I didn't serve anything with it, it would have interfered with the delicate flavour.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Very elegant, Anne! Looks lovely :)