Summer berry jelly

Summer berry terrine

This is such a stunning looking dessert, perfect for a hot summer day when you don’t fancy a heavy dessert but want something more than just fruit. This can be served with cream, ice cream, yoghurt or just eaten on its own.  I’ve seen similar recipes that use sparkling wine or even champagne but I have used sparkling grape juice here to make it non-alcoholic.

Serves 6-8

Time: 20 minutes plus a few hours to set

Ingredients

• 425ml/ 15fl oz sparkling grape juice

• 50g/ 2oz caster sugar

• 2 x 11g/ 0.4oz sachets of gelatine powder

• Juice of one lime

• Approx. 950g mixed berries of your choice. I used a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

 You’ll also need about a 900g loaf tin or jelly mould.

Method

Prepare the fruit, give all the berries a rinse and slice the strawberries into bitesize pieces, I usually quarter them lengthways which I think looks pretty.

In a small saucepan heat half the grape juice till it simmers and then add the caster sugar and gelatine and whisk. It may look a bit frothy and rather unappetising at this stage but not to worry!

Once everything is dissolved, add the rest of the grape juice and the lime juice and stir again then set aside to cool.

Meanwhile prepare the fruit in your jelly mould. The fruit placed in first will be most visible when the jelly is turned out and so ensure that all the berries are nicely spread out at the bottom with each type of berry being visible.

Pour the grape juice and gelatine mix in to the mould, cover with cling film and then place in the fridge to set for a few hours. If like me you are using a flexible silicone mould then a top tip from me would be to make sure the mould is on a plate before your pour the liquid in. The mould will be quite heavy when filled, so if you pick it up the mould will likely bend and the liquid will spill out. Instead, transport it by lifting a nice solid plate!

When ready to serve, briefly dip the mould in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Place a plate on top and the swiftly turn the jelly the right way up. Gently remove the mould.

I like to cut this in to slices and serve with a scoop of ice cream, or cream, but you could just eat it on its own too.