Macerated summer fruits

To serve with pannacotta or rice pudding.

1/4 each: redcurrants; raspberries; blackberries; blackcurrants. Frozen is fine.
100g icing sugar for each 300g fruit (approx)
Squeeze lemon

Add the sugar to the fruit.  If it's frozen you can leave it to defrost like this.  Once thawed though, stir with a metal spoon and leave in the fridge, covered, overnight.

Empty into a coarse seive over a pan and leave to drip for a few minutes.  Place back, still in the sieve, over its original bowl where it will no doubt continue dripping.

Reduce the liquid by boiling until 'lightly glazed' (they might say). You will want it to be a nice sauce consistency, but NB some thickening shall occur on cooling and you don't want coloured or burnt sugar at all.

Tip in the drippings from the bowl, reduce again if required, then pour back over the fruit in its original bowl.

Chill in the fridge for 1 hour or as long as you like.  Just before serving taste for sugar and add a small squeeze of lemon juice.

The idea is to not boil the tannins out of the fruit skins.

Apple jelly with raspberries

While I can remember what I did.  Full recipe possibly to follow:

Make 1cm (or smaller) cubes of peeled granny smith apple.  Reserve in a bowl with lemon juice.

Buy some nice clear apple juice.  I used golden delicious.  Add some lemon juice and sugar to taste.

Place some diced apples and raspberries in jelly moulds.

Set the liquid over the fruit according to instructions on gelatine packet (ie. measuring volume first).