Lavender Jelly

At last, my experimental Lavender Jelly is made. I first tried it in The White Apron while on holiday up north. It was served with cheese and oaty biscuits - the texture of the biscuits is important I think. I enjoyed it so much I decided to have a go at copying it and this is what I came up with.

2 kilos crab apples (rosy red ones give a nice colour)
25g dried lavender
sugar (see recipe for amount)

Put the apples in a pan and barely cover with water. Simmer til the fruit has completely collapsed, adding more water if necessary. Strain through a jelly bag but add the lavender to the receptacle it's draining into so that the flowers steep in the apple juice. Leave overnight.

Next day, strain the lavender out of the apple juice. I used a colander lined with a muslin cloth. If you wish, you could leave some flowers in the juice (the jelly I had in the restaurant was studded with flowers) but I wasn't confident in my ability to make sure the flowers were evenly distributed through the jelly rather than floating at the top of the jar.

Measure the juice and add 1lb sugar to every pint. Bring to the boil til setting point is reached and pot in the usual way.

As you would expect, this jelly has a delicate, perfumed flavour and a beautiful colour. The perfect accompaniment to afternoon tea I feel, it's crying out for scones, clotted cream and cucumber sandwiches.