Spring Recipes
RHUBARB & SWEET WINE JELLY
Those who know me know how much I love my jellies, and this recipe is no exception and based on a Nigella Lawson jelly. Any variety of inexpensive sweet wine will work well in this recipe; I tend to use a Muscat– but nothing too syrupy. Leave your fine Sauterne to drink on a special occasion!
Makes 8-10 individual jellies
INGREDIENTS
900g (2lb) rhubarb
300g (10 ½oz) caster sugar, (you may need a little extra if the rhubarb is very sharp)
400ml (14fl oz) water
Juice and zest of 1 orange, if you can find a blood orange it deepens the colour
About 300ml (10fl oz) sweet wine
Approx 8 leaves gelatine (refer to packet, this recipe makes just under 1 litre)
Chop the rhubarb into 2-3cm pieces and place in a large saucepan. Sprinkle over the sugar and add the orange juice, zest, and water. Cover the pan and bring to the boil then simmer until soft. Don’t over cook or the rhubarb juice will lose its lovely pink colour.
Once cooked, strain the rhubarb over a large bowl or measuring jug, this should give you about 600-700ml of liquid; you can save the pulp and use it in a crumble or trifle recipe or freeze for another day.
Pour the sweet wine into the juice and make up to 900ml. You need to taste it at this point to make sure you don’t need any more sugar, a little more orange juice or a dash more wine.
Soak the 8 gelatine leaves in a dish or jug of cold water. Put a couple of ladlefuls of the rhubarb and Muscat juice in a small saucepan to heat through. Take it off the heat before it boils, remove the gelatine from the water, squeeze out any excess water then whisk it into the hot syrup. Whisk well making sure it all dissolves, then strain and add to the rest of the syrup.
Pour the syrup into martini or wine glasses and stand in the fridge to set. This will take approximately 4 hours. Serve the jellies with fresh cream.
