Personal

Car Stuff

Extras

Mulled red wine jellies with vanilla cream

By Jo Pratt, Daily Mail

The pudding could be described as a grown-up version of jelly and ice-cream. You might think a chilled dessert an odd choice at this time of year, but the wintry flavour of mulled wine and spices makes it strangely warming.

Makes 6-8, so plenty for seconds

For the jellies:
750ml bottle medium-bodied red wine, such as Merlot
1 cinnamon stick
1tsp cloves
Zest of 1 orange, plus 100ml
(3½fl oz) freshly squeezed juice
1 bay leaf
225g (8oz) caster sugar
8 gelatine leaves, such as Costa Fine Leaf

For the vanilla Cream:
150ml (5fl oz) double cream
1 vanilla pod
2tbsp sieved icing sugar Ground cinnamon, for dusting

Place the wine, cinnamon stick, cloves, orange zest, juice and bay leaf in a saucepan, and gently heat until it is just below boiling point. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15-30 minutes.

If any scum rises to the surface, skim off with a metal spoon. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for about 5 minutes until soft. Strain the wine through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan.

Heat again until just below boiling point. stir in the sugar until dissolved. remove the gelatine from the cold water and squeeze out any excess water. Stir into the wine until totally dissolved, and then divide between wine glasses.

Cool to room temperature, then chill to set in the fridge for about 3 hours, or overnight.

When you are ready to serve the jellies, split the vanilla pod, keeping the seeds and discarding the pod. lightly whip the cream, vanilla seeds and icing sugar. spoon on top of the jellies and dust lightly with cinnamon.

Alternative: To create a nonalcoholic version of this jelly, you can use a combination of apple juice and cranberry juice instead of red wine