Black Cherry Jelly

One of the most traditional jellies, and a favourite of many Stour regulars.... I have simplified the recipe a little, and got rid of the jelly packets from the original, as a) I can never remember to buy it and b) I always end up eating at least one little cube. 

Good jelly, unfortunately, is not made with vegetarian alternatives to gelatine - I have tried!.    Having said that, I much prefer to use leaf/sheet gelatine to powder.   In the UK, good quality leaf gelatine (for example, Dr Oetker's) is pork based, and powder is beef based.   The distinction is important to note, just in case somebody needs to know for religious reasons. 

Black Cherry Jelly

Black Cherry Jelly

1 18oz/530g (approx) tin of cherries/400g/1lb cold poached cherries (stoned!)
1 litre of fruit juice, the same colour as the cherries, chilled
1.5 sachets gelatine (6 leaves - this produces a light set - if you want to be able to turn it upside down, add more leaves)
sugar to taste

Drain the cherry juice into a large jug, then add the the gelatine, heating the juice and gelatine slightly in the microwave to dissolve it.    Add the sugar, and stir until the sugar has dissolved too.    Pour in the remainder of the coloured juice and stir until the gelatine and sugar is evenly distributed. 

When the mixture has cooled down and is about to set, pour a small quantity into a pretty glass bowl, then spoon the cherries over the top.  Wait, then add more jelly mixture.   If you wanted the cherries evenly distributed, you do it a small quantity of cherries/jelly at a time.  

If the jelly mixture isn’t really at setting point, when you add the fruit, it will rise like goldfish at feeding time.   The decision is yours – either go for a two layer jelly, or be patient and wait until each section sets – you can tell what I did just by looking at the photo…