Cooksister | Food, Travel, Photography

Food, photos & faraway places

  • HOME
  • ABOUT
    • About me
    • Contact me
    • Work with me
    • Legal
      • Copyright notice & Disclaimer
      • Disclosure
      • Cookies and Privacy Policy
    • Press and media
    • Cooksister FAQs
  • RECIPES
    • Recipe Index – by course
    • Baking (savoury)
    • Braai/Barbecue
    • Breakfast & brunch
    • Christmas
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Eggs
    • Fish
    • Gluten-free
    • Leftovers
    • Pasta & rice
    • Poultry
    • Pulses
    • Salads
    • Soup
    • South African
    • Starters & light meals
    • Vegan
    • Vegetables
    • Vegetarian
  • RESTAURANTS
    • British Isles restaurants
    • Dubai restaurants
    • France restaurants
    • London restaurants
    • Montenegro restaurants
    • New York restaurants
    • Pop-ups and supperclubs
    • Serbia restaurants
    • Singapore restaurants
    • South Africa restaurants
    • Sweden restaurants
    • Switzerland restaurants
    • USA restaurants
  • TRAVEL
    • All my travel posts
      • Austria
      • Belgium
      • Canada
      • Dubai
      • Cruise ships
      • France
      • Germany
      • Greece
      • Grenada
      • Hong Kong
      • Hotel reviews
      • Italy
      • Israel
      • Jersey
      • Mexico
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Portugal
      • Singapore
      • Ski & snow
      • South Africa
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • UK
      • USA
      • Wales
  • PORTFOLIO
    • Freelance writing portfolio
    • Speaking and teaching
    • Photography portfolio
    • Buy my photos
You are here: Home / Recipes / Dairy-free / Summer berry terrine for IMBB#15

Summer berry terrine for IMBB#15

by Jeanne Horak on May 22, 2005 7 Comments in Dairy-free, Dessert, Fruit, Gluten-free, Is My Blog Burning?, Recipes

Summer berry terrinf

Where does the time go??  It seems like yesterday when I took part in my first IMBB – but when I checked the dates I saw that it was almost a year ago to the day!  I can’t believe that it’s been a whole year, and when I look back on my entries I cant believe how well my contributions have turned out, despite the fact that some of them took me significantly out of my culinary comfort zone. But of course, the minute you think that, you jinx yourself and hey, I guess I was about due for a disappointment…  But maybe I’m being too hard on myself.  Read on – you decide.

When Elise at Simply Recipes decreed the theme of this month’s IMBB to be “Has my blog jelled?” I was a little dubious.  I mean, jelly??  As in hospital food they give you after a tonsillectomy?  As in the luridly coloured stuff you’d crave as a kid but somehow lose the taste for?  As in the stuff I made with half water and half alcohol as a student, a fun way to have pudding and get plastered at the same time??  Okeydokey.  But then I started thinking of the other stuff you can do with jelly – terrines, mousses, panna cotta – and my first thought was to make a pudding my mom used to make.  Unsweetened condensed milk, orange jelly (as in Jell-O, not as in jam!), orange zest and whipped up egg whites.  Easy peasy.  But then I thought hell, that’s just too simple and besides, maybe the idea is to try and stretch myself a little and not use a packet of jelly for a change.  Yes folks, I’m a gelatine virgin (agar agar would be in the realms of the positively deviant!!).

So I thought it was high time I got over my gelatine apprehension and made something using it.  I surfed the net for a bit and came upon something that looked absolutely fab (Warning Sign #1) and appeared really easy – a terrine of summer fruits.  It’s credentials are also impeccable:  it’s from Delia Smith online, so I figured I was in safe hands.  And seeing as it’s summer and berries are beginning to reappear on the supermarket shelves, it seemed like an appropriate dish to make.  I looked forward to a slab of garnet jelly in which the rich bounty of summer berries were suspended, trembling slightly (the terrine, not me…) as it awaited the first eager scoop of my spoon.  And besides, what’s not to like about a dish that requires sparkling rose wine as its liquid base?

So far so good. Off to buy the ingredients.  Strawberries – check.  Blueberries – check.  Raspberries?  Erm, no.  But big blackberries so we’ll go with those.  Sparkling rose – check – a dry Cava rose.  Gelatine powder?  Not a granule (Warning Sign #2).  At this point I should have said that’s it – off to the desserts aisle for a packet of strawberry jelly.  But nooooo, I rummaged around on the shelf instead.  Two different brands of leaf gelatine, but since it was My First Time I had absolutely no idea how to convert the 2 sachets of gelatine powder that the recipe requires, into the equivalent amount in leaves, so abandoned that option.  OK, what have we here?  Vege-Gel from SuperCook, a vegetarian alternative to gelatine (i.e. no cow’s hooves, pig’s trotters or whatever) and… in powder sachets!  Sold.

Got home and started making the recipe.  When I got to the gelatine/Vege-Gel bit I read the packet, where I was told “Vege-Gel is a vegetarian alternative to gelatine not a substitute.  Okay, a little concerned by this but not too much.  They merely suggest that you follow the packet instructions carefully, not your gelatine instructions that the recipe contains.  Now the recipe says to bring the wine to a simmer and then whisk in the gelatine, while my packet instructions told me the Vege-Gel must be added to cold liquid and then brought to the boil.  No problem – we’ll add the Vege-Gel to the cold wine, bring it to a simmer and then whisk in the sugar, which I do.  My main concern was that the jelly would not set – the packet also said that although 1 packet would gel 750ml of liquid, acidic liquids (like, erm, wine and lime juice) might need 2 sachets for best results.  So of course I chucked in 2 sachets.  The powder fizzed up quite a bit in the lovely salmon pink cava and I diligently stirred it as I waited for it to simmer/boil.  But when the fizzy foam cleared, the colour formerly known as clear salmon pink had turned… well a sort of walls-of-an-institution opaque dusky pink.. Eeeewww.  Oh well, I thought, maybe it will clear when the mixture boils but noooooo, opaque dusky pink it stayed.  It looked like a chemical reaction, not a dessert, and didn’t look like it could exist in the same universe as Delia’s picture.  But it was Saturday night and all the berries were washed and ready and I wasn’t going to waste half a bottle of wine… so we soldiered on.  Now the recipe says to pour the wine/gelatine mixture into a jug to cool before pouring it over the berries in the mould, so I did this.  Did I say I was worried about the mixture setting?  HAH!!!  By the time I’d filled the mould with berries the stuff in the jug was a malevolent, solid, almost sentient mass.  Well OK, so maybe it wasn’t sentient.  But it certainly looked as if it had evolutionary aspirations.  And it had certainly formed a thick rubbery skin where it had been in contact with the air and cooled slightly.   Eeeeewwwww again.  But hey ho, we’ll just reheat it till it turns liquid again and press on, and that’s pretty much the story until the end of the recipe.

 

 

Chilled the monster overnight and after our barbecue at Nick’s rowing club this afternoon, unmoulded it for dessert when we got home. And… it wasn’t as disastrous as I had imagined it might be! It certainly looked nice, even if not drop-dead gorgeous like Delia’s picture. The jelly still had that slightly disturbing opaque pink colour, but it didn’t look as noxious as last night – it may even have gone a teensy bit more translucent overnight. What I did find though was that the gel mixture had been too thick when I poured it over the berries – if it had been more liquid it might have got into the nooks and crannies around the fruit a bit more and held together a bit better. As it was, the terrine was sliceable, but tended to fall apart a bit, rather than the fruit suspended neatly in jelly slices as I had imagined. Maybe there was too much fruit, who knows. Also, predictably, the jelly had set to the approximate consistency of a stress-ball, i.e. not very quivery at all, so maybe next time less gelling agent of whatever description…! But as for the taste – it was lovely. A kind of a grown-up fruit jelly, with the tang of the Cava and lime juice and the sweetness of the berries. I served ours with vanilla ice cream but crème fraiche or cream would also be good. Would I make it again? Probably not – or if I were to, I’d use a packet of jelly and mix it with half booze. For the end result, I didn’t think it was worth going the Vege-Gel (or similar) route, but maybe I was just unlucky. Watch this space for future experiments in gel-land – I still have 2 sachets left…!

For those of you who feel you aren’t doomed to repeat my mistakes, I’m sure this could turn into a very successful party piece dessert for you, so here is Delia’s recipe:

SUMMER BERRY TERRINE (Serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

425ml (15 fl oz) sparkling rosé wine

50g (2 oz) caster sugar

2 x 11g (0.4 oz) sachets gelatine powder

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

For the fruit:

350g (12 oz) small strawberries

225g (8 oz) raspberries

35Og (12 oz) blackcurrants, redcurrants and blueberries – approx 110g (4 oz) of each or any other combination you like

You will also need two 900g (1lb) loaf tins, 19 x 12 cm and 9cm deep (7 1/2″ x 4 3/4″ and 3 1/2″ deep), preferably non-stick or silicone

Method:

First prepare the fruit: remove the stalks and halve the strawberries if they are any larger than a quail’s egg. Then mix the fruits together in a large bowl, being very gentle so as to avoid bruising them.

In a small saucepan heat half the rosé wine till it begins to simmer, then whisk the sugar and gelatine into it. Make sure that everything has dissolved completely before adding the remaining wine and the lime juice. Then pour the liquid into a jug and allow it to cool. While that’s happening, lay the mixed fruit in one of the loaf tins – and it’s worth arranging the bottom layer with the smallest, prettiest-shaped fruit as this will be the layer on top when the terrine is turned out.

Next, pour all but 150ml (5 fl oz) of the liquid over the fruit. Now lay a sheet of clingfilm over the tin, place the other tin directly on top. Put two unopened tins of tomatoes (or something similar to act as weights) into the top tin and put the whole lot into the fridge for about 1 hour, or until it has set. Then warm up the remaining 150ml (5 fl oz) wine mixture and pour it over the surface of the terrine. Re-cover with clingfilm and return to the fridge overnight to set firm.

When you are ready to serve, turn out the terrine by dipping the tin very briefly in hot water and inverting it on to a plate. Use a very sharp knife (also dipped first into hot water) to cut it into slices. Serve with chilled pouring cream, crème fraîche or Greek yoghurt.

More deliciousness for you!

  • Ginger pannacotta with lime syrupGinger pannacotta with lime syrup
  • Rhubarb and strawberry galettesRhubarb and strawberry galettes
  • A spiced strawberry & rhubarb upside-down cake to celebrate 9 years of bloggingA spiced strawberry & rhubarb upside-down cake to celebrate 9 years of blogging
  • Mexican pork pibil (cochinita pibil)Mexican pork pibil (cochinita pibil)

Never miss a Cooksister post

If you enjoyed this post, enter your e-mail address here to receive a FREE e-mail update when a new post appears on Cooksister

I love comments almost as much as I love cheese - so if you can't leave me any cheese, please leave me a comment instead!

« Digital Dish – Cooksister in print!
Marinated mushrooms & shaved zucchini salad for a London food blogger lunch »

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  1. AugustusGloop says

    May 23, 2005 at 3:15 am

    You done good Jeanne. Looks great – in spite of your alleged (and metaphorical) horsing around. And I’m sure no fruits were bruised either.

    Reply
  2. santos. says

    May 23, 2005 at 6:40 am

    >a malevolent, solid, almost sentient mass
    now *that’s* what i call a dessert!
    despite it’s petri dish-esque colour description, it looks lovely….

    Reply
  3. Joo says

    May 23, 2005 at 7:16 am

    I have never been a fan of jelly-stuff in any way- the concept of it being hospital food is lost on me, I have never had it in a hospital, nor do I know it mixed with alcohol, but that might be just something cultural. After they remove your tonsils in Germany, you get loads of icecream 🙂 I certainly like that better. I doubt, that after reading you “flowery” descprition, That I will try making such a terrine, but it certainly doesn’t look as bad on the picture as you described it, and if it tasted good, then I guess the colour is not so important. But I guess we just associate a certain taste with certain colors. Green or blue milk would probably be something we’d never drink – unless it’s for a joke. But it would not appeal to us. 🙂 Keep up the good work!

    Reply
  4. Moira says

    May 23, 2005 at 12:05 pm

    “But it certainly looked as if it had evolutionary aspirations.” Bwwaaaahaaahaaaahaaa!

    Reply
  5. Jeanne says

    May 23, 2005 at 6:02 pm

    AG – I can assure you that no soft fruits were harmed during the makine of this dessert. ANd we got consent forms from the parents of all the berries that looked underage…! 😉
    Hey Santos! I wish I’d taken a pic of the jelly mix before I coaxed/poured it into the mould. You could literally see the malevolent glints in its, erm, eyes. Not your ordinary dessert.
    Joolez – thanks for stopping by! I think there was ice cream involved too after a tonsillectomy, you are right. But jelly does seem to be the quintessential hospital dessert… You should try it with alcohol! Make raspberry jelly with vodka substituted for half the cold water – nursery food for grown-ups! And quite attractive if you serve it in a martini glass…
    Moira – man, you shoulda seen it. If I didn’t stop it from leaving the primeval slime it would probably have grown legs by morning and be sleeping in my bed and stealing my friends by nightfall…!

    Reply
  6. elise says

    May 23, 2005 at 6:19 pm

    Hi Jeanne – this terrine looks delicious and is very similar to a fruit terrine I made last summer. http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/000475berry_and_banana_terrine.php uses gelatin and white grape juice. We made it several times over the course of the summer, it was so good. Thanks for the info on the Vege-Gel, I’ll keep my eye out for it as something to avoid!

    Reply
  7. Sauce_Pot says

    July 24, 2009 at 10:42 pm

    Thanks so much for this blog. I made a wine jelly tonight (Nigella’s slut-red raspberries in chardonnay jelly) and adapted the recipe for a visiting vegan. Had I not read this blog, I too would have used two sachets of vege-gel. I used one and it has set as hard as Bruce Lee, and it’s still warm!
    It looks edible, but will not need refrigeration.

    Reply
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Never miss a Cooksister post!

Get my latest recipes delivered by e-mail!

Search over 500 recipes

Recently on Cooksister

  • Perfect broccoli and Stilton soup [keto, low carb, GF]
  • Masalchi by Atul Kochhar – Indian street food in Wembley
  • Barbecued salmon with blood oranges and capers
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts with feta, pomegranate and pine nuts [GF, V]
  • Love Yourself healthy meal delivery [Review]
  • Antillean
  • Festive roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
  • Rustic blood orange and pistachio galettes

Archives by month

Archives by category

Popular posts

Peppermint Crisp fridge tart - a South African treat
Oxtail and red wine potjie
Nigella's Bakewell slices & the Big Bakewell Taste-off
Roosterkoek - a South African braai essential
Jan Ellis pudding - a classic South African dessert
Gem squash 101: how to find them, how to grow them, how to eat them!

Featured on

Also available on

The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a The wonderful Museum of the Moon installation - a 7 metre diameter scale model of the moon suspended in the Painted Hall at the  @oldroyalnavalcollege in Greenwich this week, by @lukejerramartist. A surreal and fabulous sight!
Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need Do you enjoy free art installations? Then you need to get down to @canarywharflondon between now and Saturday 28 Jan to catch the free Winter Lights 2023 event, back for the seventh year.

My favourites include @lukejerramartist ‘s Floating Earth; Tom Lambert’s Out of the Dark; Fluorescent Firs; Toroid by This is Loop; and the surreal and mesmerising Anima by MEATS - a tunnel filled with hundreds of thin optical fibre lights that change colour and move in the breeze 😍 

Have you been to Winter Lights? What was your favourite?
“When we look down at the Earth from space, we s “When we look down at the Earth from space, we see this amazing, indescribably beautiful planet. It looks like a living, breathing organism. But it also, at the same time, looks extremely fragile.” - International Space Station astronaut Ron Garamond

To experience the “overview effect” (a phenomenon experienced by astronauts viewing the earth from space), head down to Canary Wharf in the London docklands this week where you can see @lukejerramartist ‘s beautiful Floating Earth installation as part of the Winter Lights event. 

This giant 10m diameter installation is created using high resolution NASA images to create a floating scale model of the Earth, lit from within so that it glows from its current home on the Middle Dock, surrounded by the headquarters of international banking and finance corporations.

The artist hopes that viewed in this context, the installation will make visitors and the bankers working in surrounding buildings question how their money in savings and pensions is invested, and whether investments can be greener.

Aside from being a thought provoking piece, it is also mesmerising and surreally beautiful, so make sure you visit the free Winter Lights event before ends on Saturday 28 Jan.
Happy lunar new year! [Invited] To celebrate the Happy lunar new year! 

[Invited] To celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Rabbit, why not head over to @mamachensdumplings currently doing a residence at the @thegantrylondon in #stratford where you can feast on prawn & chive dumplings; pork, Chinese cabbage and shiitake mushroom dumplings; pork & prawn wontons with Mama Chen’s chilli oil; vegetable dumplings; smacked cucumber salad; and spicy noodles coated in garlic and Szechuan pepper oil.

And afterwards, make sure you head up to the @unionsocialoc bar for a cocktail - I loved the Moreish Fashion with bourbon, PX sherry, chestnuts and mandarin orange bitters!
Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Chr Got leftover Stilton (or any blue cheese) from Christmas? Turn it into this super simple and super indulgent broccoli and Stilton soup! So easy to make and soooo delicious to eat - and it is low carb and GF. What more could you want?! Click the link in my bio for the full recipe. What’s your favourite soup?
CELEBRATE. So the fireworks are over, the champag CELEBRATE.

So the fireworks are over, the champagne is finished and the leftovers are all eaten. We are one week into 2023 and I have had some time to think about what my intent is for the year. 

In 2022 my brother had a life saving kidney transplant. Since the operation, he has had a Peanuts cartoon as his WhatsApp profile pic, where Charlie Brown and Snoopy are sitting on a pier talking. Charlie says “Some day, we all die Snoopy.” And Snoopy replies: “Yes - but every other day, we will live.”

Waking up in the morning is a gift, every day, and it is so easy to forget this. The last few years have been difficult for so many people and the coming year promises its own challenges. But every day that we don’t die is a day to live, to celebrate life in some small way.

So my intention in 2023 is to celebrate. Celebrate our achievements however small. Celebrate our friends and family. Celebrate small things. Celebrate life.

Did you make any resolutions or goals for 2023? I would love to hear them in the comments! Wishing you all the very best for 2023 🥂
Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes fro Happy new year, everyone! Here are some scenes from last night with friends in Deptford. My deconstructed avocado ritz; @twinkleparkstephen ‘s bobitie; Giles’ Ottolenghi tomato salad; and Jean’s clementine trifle - and the London night sky ablaze with fireworks!  How did you spend your evening? 🥂🎇🎆
Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope Merry Christmas to all those celebrating - I hope your day was merry and bright, filled with family, friends and love 🎄🥂. Mine was spent alone at home - my choice and the result of a combination of Covid (not mine!) and rail strikes 🤦‍♀️ but very relaxing and indulgent!
Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter y Looking for a stylish and easy Christmas starter you can make ahead? Look no further than my individual smoked salmon terrine! Hot smoked salmon, cream cheese and chives wrapped in cold smoked salmon in a ramekin. Still one of the most popular Christmas recipes in my blog, it looks cheffy but is soooo simple to make - and will save you time and effort on the day! Get the recipe by clicking on the link in my bio.

How is your Christmas meal prep going? Are you entertaining at home or going to friends or family? 🎄🥂🎄🥂🎄
Load More... Follow me on Instagram

Follow Jeanne Horak-Druiff's board Recipes by Cooksister on Pinterest.

Cooksister

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

The South African Food and Wine Blog Directory

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Jeanne Horak is a freelance food and travel writer; recipe developer and photographer. South African by birth and Londoner by choice, Jeanne has been writing about food and travel on Cooksister since 2004. She is a popular speaker on food photography and writing has also contributed articles, recipes and photos to a number of online and print publications. Jeanne has also worked with a number of destination marketers to promote their city or region. Please get in touch to work with her Read More…

Latest Recipes

Bowls of broccoli and Stilton soup
Salmon with blood oranges dill and capers
Brussels sprouts with feta and pomegranate
Roast lamb with pomegranate glaze
Blood orange & pistachio galettes
Cauliflower topped steak with melted cheese
Plate of potted smoked salmon with slaw and a glass of champagne
bowls of pistachio pomegranate bircher muesli

SITEMAP

Home

Contact

About me

Recipe Index

Restaurant Index

Copyright & Disclaimer

Cookies & privacy policy




blog counter

© 2004 - 2023 · Jeanne Horak unless otherwise stated - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. You may not reproduce any text, excerpts or images without my prior permission. Site by RTW Labs

Copyright © 2023 · Cooksister on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Cooksister cookie consent
We use cookies to ensure you receive the best experience on our site. If you continue to use this site, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions. Accept
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT