Raspberry jellies, pistachio and thyme biscuits

Ingredients

For the jellies:
800g raspberries
350g caster sugar
3 bay leaves, roughly torn
4 tablespoons Martini Bianco (sweet white vermouth)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
9 leaves gelatin

For the biscuits:
80g unsalted butter
30g caster sugar
½ teaspoon fine sea salt
4 cardamom pods
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, roughly chopped
50g shelled pistachios, finely chopped
100g plain flour
1 egg yolk

Instructions

For the jellies:

• Lightly oil 6 individual 150ml jelly moulds.
• Put the raspberries, sugar, bay leaves and vermouth in a saucepan and add 300ml of water.
• Heat slowly until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and stir in the lemon juice.
• Sieve the raspberry mixture, to produce a smooth liquid. Discard the solids. Measure the liquid; you should have 900ml – top up with water if necessary.
• Put the gelatin leaves in a bowl and cover with cold water. Leave for 5 minutes until soft then gently squeeze out any excess water and add to the raspberry liquid.
• Return the mixture to a clean pan and heat gently to dissolve the gelatin.
• Pour the jelly mixture into the moulds and chill for at least 6 hours to set.

For the biscuits:

• Cream together the butter, sugar and salt.
• Crush the cardamom to a powder, removing the green papery pods.
• Add the thyme, pistachios and flour to the butter mixture and combine thoroughly.
• Add the egg yolk and mix until soft dough forms.
• With lightly floured hands, roll the dough on a board into a thick sausage.
• Wrap in baking paper and refrigerate until needed.
• Heat the oven to 150˚C/fan oven 130˚C /mark 2. Line a baking tray with paper. Unwrap the biscuit dough and cut into ½ cm slices and arrange on the tray.
• Bake for 20minutes or until crisp and brown.

To serve: unmould the jellies by dipping each mould in hot water and inverting onto individual plates. Serve with the biscuits, and double cream in a jug on the side.