Mark Hix recipe: Sweet cicely and raspberry jelly

Serves 4

Sweet cicely and raspberry jelly (Jason Lowe)

Sweet cicely is a herb that's not used a lot these days. You may well have it in your garden but have never even given it a second glance, yet it has a great taste and pleasing aroma that makes it perfect for desserts. You can make a simple purée to serve this with by simply blending some raspberries in a liquidiser.

400ml water
200g caster sugar
A handful of sweet cicely, plus some leaves for garnish if you wish
100ml Sauternes or a good dessert wine
Juice of ½ a lemon
15g leaf gelatine (5 sheets)
100g raspberries

Bring the water, sugar and sweet cicely to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for an hour. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in a shallow bowl of cold water for a minute, or until soft. Squeeze out the water, add to the infusion while it's still warm, and stir until dissolved. Once cool, add the Sauternes, then put the jelly somewhere cool – but do not let it set.

Fill some individual jelly moulds with half of the raspberries, then pour in half of the cooled jelly. Put in the fridge for an hour or so to set, then top up the moulds with the rest of the raspberries and the unset jelly. This allows you to suspend the raspberries in the jelly and ensure that they do not float to the top. Return them to the fridge. To serve, turn out the jellies and serve with organic cream and the puréed raspberries.