July 2010 Archives

I wiggled the rhubarb jelly and it seemed set enough, so I made some "crème patisserie" - egg custard thickened with flour. The idea was to make a trifle that would stand up by itself, so I could serve it in slices.

Unfortunately, it turns out that two sheets of gelatin doesn't set half a pint of fruit juice enough to stand up. The crème patisserie was fine, but the jelly just went FLOP as soon as I served it.

The end results tasted absolutely fantastic, even if they looked a little dubious. It had all the zing of rhubarb and custard, in a form suitable for the hot hot weather we are having during the rhubarb season. Who wants to put the oven on for crumble when it's baking hot?

Next time I try this recipe, I'll sieve the rhubarb better - the jelly was a little grainy. I'll also set it better and use slightly less flour in the crème patisserie. If the whole thing finally stands up on its own, then a bit of cream on top and it will be spot on.

A few weeks ago someone gave me a big bunch of rhubarb. I stewed it and put some of it through a sieve to give some rhubarb juice, which has been in my freezer ever since.

I love jelly, but I don't like all the artificially flavoured ones from the supermarket. So I've decided to make some proper jelly from the rhubarb juice, and use it make a Minimalist Trifle.

This morning I bought gelatin and strawberries (two big punnets for £1!). I have pureed some of the strawberries, which hopefully will take some of the edge off the rhubarb. I heated some of the rhubarb/strawberry juice, dissolved a couple of gelatin sheets in it, mixed in the rest of the cold juice, and the results are setting in the fridge.

Will it set? I have no idea... the gelatin packet is pretty vague on how strong the stuff is. I'll find out later!