Rhubarb & Strawberry Mousse

TRADITIONALLY, June is one of the most favoured months for weddings. The chances of mild weather are fairly high and it is such a beautiful month in the UK. Those long summer days have a fresh beauty that gladdens the heart and the eyes. Many of us have great pleasure in harvesting crops of fruit and vegetables locally and strawberries in particular are very much associated with June. I have a special recipe, which could be an ideal sweet to grace the tables of a wedding reception – but I can thoroughly recommend it for any other special summer occasion. My husband always declared he didn’t like rhubarb but when I made up this dish he said it was delicious and all our family love it!

Ingredients

1 lb (500g) rhubarb
Juice of 1 whole orange plus half and orange1 pack of orange jelly
5 fluid oz water
2 tablespoons caster sugar (approx)
1 pot (200ml) crème fraiche
1 heaped tablespoon of thick Greek yoghurt
1lb strawberries
1 small pot of double cream for piping

Method

Cook the rhubarb gently with one tablespoon of water, the juice of one orange and one heaped tablespoon of the castor sugar. Grate the zest of the orange and add to the rhubarb as it is cooking. Cover the pan with a lid to avoid too much evaporation but stir frequently so it doesn’t stick to the base. Dissolve the orange jelly in the rest of the water (I do this in my microwave as it is easier).

When the rhubarb is tender, liquidize it in a blender and add the orange jelly, yoghurt and crème fraiche. Keep whizzing until it is smooth and well blended. Taste to check it is sweet enough. It should have a nice acidic flavour, but not too sour. Add more sugar if required. Turn the mixture into a jelly mould and set in the fridge. Hull the strawberries and slice any large ones so they are roughly all the same size. Sprinkle them with the juice of the other half orange and the rest of the sugar. Turn out the mousse into a pretty dish. Whip the double cream to piping consistency and decorate the top and sides of the mousse with this and a few o f the sliced strawberries – arranging around the base of the pudding. This is nice served with short bread fingers or boudoir biscuits.