Serves 6
500ml cranberry juice
110g caster sugar
12 grams gelatine leaves*
2 punnets strawberries
2 punnets of blueberries
Our home made creamy vanilla bean ice cream
For the jelly: soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 2 minutes until softened and they look like wet cellophane. Meanwhile, place 250ml of the cranberry juice and all the sugar in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Bring the pot to the boil; remove from the heat. Squeeze out the excess water from the gelatine. Whisk the gelatine into the hot cranberry mixture until the gelatine has dissolved; strain through a fine sieve. Add the remaining 250ml of cranberry juice. Set aside while you prepare the fruit. Do not refrigerate at this stage.
Hull and cut the strawberries in half; wash and dry all the berries. Attractively place a row of strawberries around the bottom of each glass with the cut side facing the glass; place some blueberries in the base inside the strawberries; this will also help to keep the strawberries in place. Pour over a little jelly and repeat the layers continuing to place strawberries and berries attractively. Top up with the jelly to cover the fruit, as in the photograph.
Cover and refrigerate overnight.
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- First layer, cut side out
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- With the ice-cream
*If you would like to make this jelly so it may be cut into cubes and scattered over a dessert, increase the gelatine content to 14 grams, and pour the mixture into a straight-sided container so that the liquid sits at least 1cm deep. To serve, turn the jelly out onto a board and chop into 1cm cubes and use as part of a dessert plate.
Hint
3 tsp gelatine powder or 1 rounded tbsp powder – 10 grams and will set 500ml to a light jelly.
18 grams and will set 500ml to a firm jelly, one which could be unmoulded.
Note that gelatine leaves vary in weight. Check on the gelatine leaf packet; titanium strength weighs 5 grams per sheet, gold is 2 grams per sheet. If you are not sure, weigh the leaves before use.
Fresh market strawberries
