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Wake up your taste buds in March’s kitchen!

I love lifting the lid of our forced rhubarb pot and seeing the rosy red stems growing! Simple pleasures I know but it’s one of the first tastes of  spring! As much as we love winter veg our taste buds are crying out for something fresh and tangy at this time of year.

Jelly is a perfect way to enjoy the fresh forced rhubarb flavour and when mixed with ginger and orange you have a perfect flavour combination.

Rhubarb Jelly with Ginger and Orange Nibbles

For the jelly:

For 4. Takes about 35 minutes plus setting time

500g forced rhubarb, cut into 2cm pieces

100g caster sugar

1 orange, juice

Approx 4 tblspns Muscat wine

4 sheets gelatine

  • Put the forced rhubarb and sugar into a saucepan and add the sugar. Make the orange juice up to 400ml with water and add to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and leave to poach for 5 minutes.
  •  Line a sieve with a piece of muslin and strain the rhubarb for a good hour to collect the juices in a bowl. It should be just short of 575ml(1pint).
  • Make up to a pint with the Muscat wine.  The sweet desert wine has a lovely fruity, flowery flavour but you could experiment with other flavours such as vodka, cointreau or even champagne if you happen to have some open! For the non drinkers; use water to make up the amount.
  • Lay the gelatine sheets in a shallow dish of cold water and leave for about 5 minutes until they have gone floppy and soft. Meanwhile pour the juice into a pan and reheat.
  • Take the gelatine out of the water a sheet at a time and wipe away any excess water. Drop into the pan of hot juice and stir until they’ve dissolved completely.
  • Pour into serving glasses. Leave to cool to room temperature then put in the fridge to set.
  • Make a rhubarb puree to serve with the jelly by simply blitzing the drained rhubarb until smooth in a liquidiser. Add more sugar to taste.

   For the Ginger and Orange nibbles;

Makes about 40 nibbles or 20 biscuit size

75g butter

100g golden syrup

225g S.R. flour

2tspns ground ginger

100g light brown soft sugar

Orange, zest

1 egg(beaten)

  • Preheat the oven to 180C/fan160/350F/gas4 and grease 2 large baking sheets
  • Put the butter and syrup into a saucepan and melt gently together. Mix together the flour and sugar in a bowl then pour in the syrup mixture. Start to mix together, then add the beaten egg and the orange zest. Mix well.
  • To make bite size biscuits put little dollops of mixture (about half a teaspoon) on the baking trays with space to spread. Pop in the oven for only about 7-9 minutes. They will start to brown at the edges but still feel soft. Remove from the oven and carefully put on a wire rack to cool.
  • Serve several biscuits along with the jelly and a small shot of puree.
  • The biscuits will freeze but may soften a little