Prosecco Jellies

We have had no summer to speak of this year and the weather seems to have mainly consisted of chilly temperatures and rain… LOTS of rain!  Despite this, I still like to pretend that we actually do get sunny days; days where picnics can be enjoyed and summery foods can be eaten.

I honestly believe that the Irish must be one of the most hope filled nations on earth because no matter how dreadful the weather is we never give up and we always believe that it will improve! We discuss at great length the possibility of getting a ‘fine spell’ the week after next on a Tuesday at approximately 3.27pm in the afternoon. And because we are imbued with such endless hopefulness we really believe we will… if only because ‘yer man' up in Donegal who predicts the weather by testing goat droppings (or some equally fanciful weather divining method) says so!!!

 

Irrespective of what the weather outside is like these Prosecco Jellies always make me feel in a summery mood. They are incredibly simple to make and provided you chill the Prosecco and the glasses/containers that you use for the jellies, you should retain a lot of the fizz in the jellies as they set.

 

I like to use a selection of berries, but you can also use segmented sweet citrus fruits such as clementines and satsumas which are wonderfully zingy and taste delicious. This is a very elegant dessert which would be wonderful as a showstopper dessert for a dinner party and has the added advantage of being able to be prepared well in advance.

 

I like to serve it in individual glass bowls so that you can see the beautiful soft fruits suspended in the effervescent jelly but you can make it in one bowl if you prefer.
 

Ingredients:

4 leaves of gelatine
550ml Prosecco, well chilled
50g caster sugar

250g-300g of soft berries (e.g. raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, redcurrants etc.)
 

Method:

1. Place 6 glass bowls (approximately 150ml capacity each) in the freezer for 20 minutes before making these jellies. Refrigerate the berries and do not remove them from the fridge until just before you are about to use them. You want everything to be as cold as possible.
2. Put the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of water to soak for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place 150ml of the Prosecco in a medium sized bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and allow to heat up a little. Squeeze the excess water out of the gelatine leaves and pop them into the Prosecco in the bowl. Keep stirring until the gelatine has dissolved.

4. Add the sugar and keep stirring until it has dissolved and then remove the bowl from the heat. Let sit for a minute or so and then pour in the chilled Prosecco stirring well into the gelatine mixture.

5. Remove the glasses from the freezer and divide the chilled berries evenly between them. Then divide the jelly mixture evenly between the glasses and pop into the fridge.

6. After about 30 minutes, the jellies will have begun to set. Some of the berries may have settled near the top of the jellies but you can gently poke them back into the jelly with the tip of a cocktail stick as it sets so that they are evenly dispersed.

7. Allow the jellies to set for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Serves 6.