Contemporary festive fruit and wine jellies, rose infused meringues and home-made egg custard

Serves 12

You will need 3 x 12 moulds for your different jellies or you can alternate the moulds.

For the red wine jellies:

325 ml sherry

325 ml red wine

750ml water

Zest and juice of one lemon

1 cup sugar

2 cloves (whole)

3 cinnamon sticks

15 gelatine leaves bloomed in ice water

Heat the water, spices and sugar in a heavy based sauce pan, add the lemon zest and juice, add the wine and sherry and cook for a few minutes. Remove from the heat. For every 100ml of liquid you will need 1 leaf of gelatine. For 1,5 of liquid you will need 15 gel leaves. Add the bloomed gelatine leaves to the hot liquid and stir to dissolve. Strain through a fine sieve. Leave to cool slightly and pour into your moulds. You can then place the jelly in the freezer to set as this will help you to unmould them much easier, once they are frozen.

Wine jelly:

750ml La Motte Vin de Joie Rosé

750ml water

Half a cup of sugar

6 x green fig preserve, diced

15 gelatine leaves bloomed in ice water

Place all the ingredients except the diced preserved green fig in a heavy based saucepan, bring to the boil and make sure all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the gelatine leaves until dissolved. Leave to cool slightly and pour into moulds, only half way full this time. Leave to set in the fridge. Once the jelly has set, divide the diced green fig preserve between the moulds and top up with the rest of the jelly and place in the freezer to set.

Berry jelly:

750ml berry juice of your choice

750ml water

1 cup of sugar

Zest and juice of one lemon

15 gelatine leaves, bloomed in ice water

Place all the ingredients in a heavy base sauce pot and bring to the boil and make sure all the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the bloomed gelatine until dissolved and strain though a fine sieve and pour into the mould. Place in the freezer to set.

Homemade egg custard:

2 cups full cream milk (1L)

2 cups cream

2 vanilla beans cut lengthwise and seeds scraped out

8 egg yolks (reserve egg whites for the meringues)

2 tablespoon corn flour

1 cup castor sugar

Method:

Combine the egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds, castor sugar and corn flour in a mixing bowl. Add the milk, cream and vanilla bean peels to a heavy base sauce pot and bring to the boil, stirring continuously for about 5 minutes. Remove the pods from the milk mixture and pour the liquid onto the egg mixture in 3 additions, mix well after each addition

Return the mixture to the saucepot and stir over a very low heat until the mixture start to cover the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat immediately and pour into a sauce jug.

For the rose meringues:

8 egg whites at room temperature

10ml lemon juice

Pinch of salt

2 cups castor sugar

Half a cup of icing sugar

Half a cup of corn flour

1 to 2 drops of rose water

Method:

Preheat the oven to 110 C, grease two large baking trays and dust with some corn flour.

Mix the egg whites, lemon juice and salt in a bowl, beat until the mixture forms stiff peaks. Add the castor sugar with full spoons, while beating constantly until the mixture is stiff and shiny. Sieve the icing sugar and corn flour over and fold in. add your few drops of rose water, spoon or pipe the meringues onto the baking trays. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, switch off the oven and let the meringues cool inside. Make sure they do not start to colour, this will mean the oven is too warm. Rather turn down the oven to 100 C if necessary.

The jellies may be served with your choice of seasonal fruits and berries, but definitely with generous glasses of La Motte MCC!