Muscat Wine Jelly And Cream
If you think of jelly as being made from artificially-flavoured and coloured cubes from a packet and fit only for children's parties, you are in for a surprise. This one is very much for adults. The jelly is made with a wine that has a wonderful, rich, fresh, fruity, muscat flavour, with a sweetness that comes naturallyfrom the grapes and not added by man. I often set it in sweet, juicy ripe Charentais or Ogen melons, but if they are not available, the jelly can be set in glasses and partnered by other sweet, juicy fruits.
INGREDIENTS:
310 ML/ 11 FL OZ WATER
21/2 TSP POWDF.RF.D GELATINE
100 G/31/2 OZ CASTER SUGAR
400 ML/14 FL OZ MUSCAT WINE,
SUCH AS MUSCAT DE RIVESALTES,
DF. FRONTIGNAN OR
BEAUMES-DE-TENISE
JUICE OF 1/2—I LEMON
2 SMALL, RIPE CHARENTATS
OR OGEN MELONS
TO SERVE:
APPROXIMATELY
85-1 15 M113-4 Ft. OZ SINGLE
CREAM, CHILLED
DIRECTIONS:
Put 55 ML/12 fl oz water into a small heatproof bowl, sprinkle the gelatine over the top and leave for about 5 minutes until spongy. Place the bowl over a saucepan of hot water and leave until the gelatine has dissolved.
Meanwhile, Put the sugar, wine and the remaining water into a saucepan and heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved.
Remove the bowl containing the gelatine from the pan and leave to cool slightly.
Stir in a little of the wine mixture, then stir back into the remaining wine mixture. Add lemon juice to taste, then leave in a cool place until thick and syrupy.
Using a small sharp knife, and working around the equator of each melon, make a series of long, zigzag cuts to cut the melons in half. Scoop out and discard the seeds and fibres from the centre of each melon.
Reserve about one quarter of the jelly and divide the remainder between the melon shells. Place with the reserved jelly in the refrigerator to set.
just before serving, whip the reserved jelly until frothy. Spoon on top of the jelly in the melon, then serve with-single cream poured over.
