Port and fruit jelly

Just what can you do with 2/3 of a bottle of port that will soon go off, when your hangover prevents the obvious solution? Make it into a childrens’ dessert, of course! Well, a version of the kids’ classic anyway. Port jellies were apparently popular in the good old days (I have no idea when), so I decided it could not be too hard, and went with the following:

About half a bottle of port (350ml)
About 150ml of orange juice
A little water (100-200ml)
Sugar (to taste, you won’t need much, if at all)
A cinammon stick
7 or 8 gelatine leaves
Fruit – I used grapes and strawberries
Mint leaves

First I filtered the orange juice through a clean tea towel, so the jelly would be clear. Then I put the port, juice and water in a pan with the cinammon stick, and very gently heated it, making sure not to boil. Meanwhile I prepared the gelatine (soaked it), then added it to the mix. I tasted the liquid, I did not add sugar, but you could if you wanted. I then put some of the fruit in glasses, poured the liquid to the top, and put in a couple of mint leaves in for flavour and garnish. Then in the fridge for a while (12 hours or so). That is about it.

It was pretty good – rich and spiced (like sweet mulled wine), which went well with the fresh summery fruit and mint. However, the jelly process cunningly disguises the fairly potent alcohol content, so beware!