Sparkling raspberry jellies

Sparkling raspberry jellies

Did you know you could make jellies with sparkling wine? It's a long time since I tried, and I'd forgotten what a nice touch the bubbles are.

Ingredients

6 gelatine leaves (see notes below if you can't get these)
150ml raspberry cordial (or squash if you can't get cordial)
100g caster sugar
500ml sparkling wine
250g fresh raspberries

Method

• Place the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water.
• Heat the cordial with the sugar in a saucepan over low heat to dissolve the sugar.
• Remove the gelatine leaves from the water and gently squeeze out excess water.
• Add them to the cordial mixture and stir until the gelatine has dissolved.
• Remove from heat and leave to cool for about half an hour.
• Stir in sparkling wine, but gently, so as not to stir out all the bubbles.
• Plop the raspberries into 8 glasses and pour the mixture over. See notes below if you want to get a bit fancier.
• Serve in the glasses with a dollop of creme fraiche/cream/ice cream and a mint leaf.

Notes:
For a less posh version, or if you can't get hold of gelatine leaves, use raspberry jelly (jello to you Americans). Leave out the caster sugar and use just enough boiling water to dissolve the jelly. If you're using block jelly/jello rather than powdered, you can dissolve it in the microwave with no added water. Then continue as for the rest of the recipe.

For a more posh version, plop only half the raspberries in to the glasses and then pour only half the jelly mixture over them. Set the remaining jelly mixture aside, in a relatively warm place, and put the glasses into the fridge for two hours. Then top up with the remaining raspberries and the rest of the jelly mixture. That will give you a layered look.