Berry Terrine

Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 25 minutes + overnight refrigeration

Ingredients:
2 sachets of powdered gelatine
3/4 bottle of sweet white wine, Asti Spumante is best
50g caster sugar
juice 1 lime
1kg mixed small berries, strawberries, raspberries., blackcurrants or redcurrants, blueberries (whatever is seasonal)

1. Soften gelatine in 2 tablespoons of the wine. In a small saucepan gently heat half of the wine until it starts to simmer, whisk in the sugar and softened gelatine until completely dissolved.
2. Place berries in a large colander (if the berries are very big, halve or quarter them). Wash in cold water, remove any stalks and gently mix together.
3. Carefully arrange the berries in a large watertight, tapered loaf tin (19 x 12 cm x 9 cm deep), don’t forget that the bottom layer will be the top when it is turned out. Try and fit the berries in closely, reducing the gaps as much as possible by using small berries to fill the small spaces. Don’t squash them in and try not to bruise them.
4. When the loaf tin is 85 per cent full pour in the cooled jelly, leaving about 150 ml for later use.
5. Cover with cling film and place a similarly sized loaf tin carefully on top. Weight this down with a couple of cans of soup or whatever and place in the refrigerator until just set, 75 minutes or so.
6. Remove the top tin, weights and cling film. Pour in the remaining jelly liquid (you may need to warm it slightly) and refrigerate overnight. When ready to serve, turn out onto a plate and carefully slice with a very sharp straight–edged knife. Because of the density it should be easy to plate sensational looking slices. Serve with cream, crème fraîche or yoghurt.

Wine: Australian Sparkling Red!