Recipe for Blood Orange and Rosemary Jelly

A LOVELY, light, palate-cleansing dessert, this is jelly as it should be — wobbly, cool and not too sweet.

Blood oranges are one of my favourite things. These beautiful, blackberry-scented jewels are usually around from December to March, but they are at their best during January and February — just when winter seems almost too barren to bear. You will need about 10 oranges to obtain the amount of juice you need, depending on their size. As the flesh of blood oranges varies in colour and pattern, so will the depth of colour of this jelly.

Serves 4

600ml freshly squeezed blood orange juice

100g caster sugar

3 rosemary sprigs

3½ sachets of leaf gelatine (or 11g sachet powdered gelatine)

Sunflower (or other neutral flavoured) oil

To serve:

Blood orange slices and a little freshly squeezed juice

Put the orange juice and sugar into a saucepan. Lay rosemary sprigs on a board and bruise to release their flavour by pressing them firmly with the handle of your knife, then add to the saucepan. Immerse the gelatine sheets in a bowl of cold water and leave to soften for about 5 minutes.

In the meantime, place the saucepan over a gentle heat to dissolve the sugar. As the juice begins to warm through, it will take on the flavour of the rosemary. When the sugar has completely dissolved and the juice comes just to the boil, take off the heat. Remove the gelatine from the cold water and squeeze to remove excess liquid, then add to the hot orange juice and stir to dissolve. Strain through a sieve into a bowl, to remove any pithy bits and the rosemary.

Lightly oil 4 individual pudding bowls and pour in the jelly. Allow to cool completely, then place in the fridge to set — this will only take 1 or 2 hours. I like to serve these jellies on the day they are made, as they continue to set if you leave them in the fridge for longer and can become too firm.

To serve: Place a slice of blood orange on each plate and squeeze over a little juice. To unmould jelly, briefly dip base of mould into warm water, then run a little knife around the rim and invert onto plate. Serve straight away.