Sakura Jelly

Almost like a painting: Sakura flowers set in a clear jelly (made with the pink soaking liquid of the sakura) with a base of dark cherry mousse and cherries. I couldn't get a good photo of the jelly and the flowers turned out blurry because it was a rainy evening, around 5:30 pm. 

The background was the reflection of the sunset on my table. I very nearly didn't want to post anything, thinking that I should skip a post and make this jelly again. Am glad I just went with it.

The jelly above was made of gelatine while that in the first picture was made of konyakku. Gelatine sets slowly and is less viscous even when it's not hot so the sakura unfurled fully while konyakku becomes thick very quickly and the flower can't fully unfurl.

The Sakura Jelly I'm posting  today for the Royal Selangor Pewter Jelliriffic! challenge towards breast cancer awareness and aid for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association was one of the first jellies I made before the challenge. I came across the most beautiful Swiss roll here and wanted to get hold of  sakura no shio zuke, pickled sakura flowers, online but received a reply from rakuten.com that they don't ship overseas anymore.

Again, Yo was my friend indeed because she arranged for her Japanese colleague Sumiko to get me the flowers from Osaka a week after my SOS; how great is that. Thanks, Yo and Sumiko!

Every spring, the Japanese practice the custom of hanami, picnicking under the blooming sakura trees, to appreciate the beautiful but ephemeral blooms which symbolize the beauty and briefness of life.  Pickled with plum vinegar and salt, sakura no shio zuke flowers are used to make snacks such as mochi, jellies and buns. Sakurayu is pickled sakura tea, drunk during weddings because sakura, being a spring flower, represents a new beginning.

How do the flowers taste? If you love salted dried plums (huamei in Chinese), you'll love the flavor of sakura no shio zuke but if you've not eaten umeboshi (pickled plums) or the Chinese suanmei or huamei, you might find the flavor kind of unusual, especially in a jelly. The pickled flowers are extremely salty. I've had flowers that tasted salty even after being soaked for a week!

I first made the sakura jellies weeks ago with a white chocolate mousse base and loved the result: clear jelly on top and sweet white chocolate mousse at the bottom. This afternoon, I made a sakura jelly with dark cherry mousse at the base. I kept the top clear layer salty-sweet by using some of the water from soaking the flowers--it's drinkable so why throw it away--and I made the mousse quite sweet to balance the saltiness of the top layer. I really love this jelly for all its beauty and complexity of flavors. I think I may be sakura no shio zuke crazy. I know what you are saying, that I can get the same flavor from huamei or xenmei but salted plums aren't pretty at all. The sakura is and thanks to the inventiveness of the Japanese, the flavor and beauty of the sakura can still be appreciated long after their brief season has gone.

Sakura Jelly

--Rinse and soak in warm water for 3 to 4 hours. Rinse and soak again for 1 hour. Keep the water.

Top layer:

150 ml water from soaking the salted sakura

1/2 t konyakku powder (or gelatine powder for a less chewy jelly)

a pinch of citric acid (omit of using gelatine)

1 heaped tsp of caster sugar (more if you prefer)

1) Mix the konyakku powder, citric acid and sugar together well.

2) Put the water into a small pot and sprinkle the konyakku mixture over the water, stirring well. Heat undeer low flame until all the sugar is dissolved and the water becomes clear instead of cloudy.

3) Rinse and place a Nick Munro mould into a mug. Pour half the konyakku jelly into the mould, drop the flowers in (use a wooden skewer to hang them). Use a toothpick to push the sakura gently to and fro so that the petals unfurl. Wait until the jelly is half-set before pouring the remaining jelly in. You will have to re-heat the remaining jelly because it can gel quickly. Cool and work on the nest layer.

Cherry Mousse Layer:

1/2 tsp gelatine powder

30 ml cherry liquid (from canned dark cherries)

5 dark cherries, drained on kitchen paper

2 tsp caster sugar

70 ml dairy whipping cream

1) Mix the gelatine powder with the sugar and sprinkle over the cherry liquid in a small pot. Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar and gelatine. When cool, chill it until it's nearly syrupy.

2) Arrange the cherries on the clear layer.

3) Whip the cream until stiff, then whisk in the cherry liquid and pour the mousse over the clear layer. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours.

White Chocolate Mousse Layer:

1/2 t gelatine powder

50 ml water

50 gm white chocolate melts, melted

70 ml dairy whipping cream

1) Mix the gelatine powder with the sugar and sprinkle over the water in a small pot. Heat and stir to dissolve the sugar and gelatine. When cool, mix the melted choc in. Chill slightly.

2) Whip the cream until stiff, then whisk in the choc-gelatine mixture and pour the mousse over the clear layer. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours.